Kingdom Drabbles
by sakurademonalchemist
Summary: Since I've been on KH kick, and I already have drabbles for FSN, Naruto, HP, and Bleach I bring you the Kingdom Drabbles! A place to post all the KH crossovers my devious mind can come up with!
1. Destiny's Story Chapter One

For once, it wasn't the fault of some old story or bad guy with powerful magic. No, the blame for this little misadventure could squarely fall on the shoulders of someone everyone generally overlooked save to keep him on the sidelines.

Henry Mills. Son of Emma Swan and stepson of the Evil Queen herself. Grandson to the Queen of Hearts, Rumplestiltskin/Dark One/Beast, Snow White and Prince Charming. Nephew to the Wicked Witch.

His family tree was for some reason full of villains, and the only one he was blood related to was the worst one of all. The irony of this fact did not escape him.

It all started shortly after his friends in New York introduced him to a video game series call "Kingdom Hearts". The reason being that he had an unusual fascination with fairy tales, and the series heavily leaned on the Disney franchise which was full of them.

When they returned to Storybrooke, having their memories restored and the bad guy defeated yet again...only to bring rise to yet another crisis, Henry chose to do something to kill time until the dark magic was defeated again.

It was really rather monotonous at this rate, so he didn't let it get him that excited (despite how he acted on the outside).

He wrote fanfiction. Mostly he pretended to be the hero his mother and grandmother were, while he stayed out of the way of his mothers saving the day again. He was the researcher, and he knew it.

However, everything changed the day he became the author. He thought by destroying the quill, he no longer ran the risk of his little stories coming to life.

He was wrong. He should have remembered that above all, magic finds an outlet, one way or another. That, and he really shouldn't have started leaving his laptop filled with his own stories in the Sorcerer's Mansion, which was where the storybooks were kept.

And it is here our story begins...

* * *

It was wet, it was sunny, and it felt like the sea. He wondered if someone had decided to play a prank on him and drop his bed into the bay outside Storybrooke, but he knew better than that. Anyone stupid enough to do something that silly was liable to get their head bitten off by his mom Regina.

Besides, how would they get past his grandparents, who slept on the floor below him long enough to dump him?

Waking up, he quickly realized the water was too clear and bright to be the one outside Storybrooke. Not to mention the water was too warm. It almost felt tropical.

Seeing land, Henry woke up properly and started swimming. Worst case scenario, it was an island with cannibals or deserted. Best case, someone could tell him where he was and how to get home.

He was almost exhausted when he was able to touch the shore.

"Hey! There's someone there!" shouted a voice. It was someone about his age if he didn't miss his guess.

Henry sat in the soft sand just trying to catch his breath. As he did, he took in his surroundings. The thing was that the place looked strangely familiar.

It wasn't until he saw the owner of the voice that he realized why.

"No way."

It was Sora, Riku and Kairi. He vaguely remembered them from the series he got hooked on while living in New York. They almost sounded the same too.

"Hey, are you alright?" asked the boy who looked exactly like Riku.

"Yeah. Just a little disoriented I guess," said Henry.

"Who are you?" asked the kid who looked like Sora.

"My name is Henry. Henry Mills. Where am I?"

"You're on Destiny Islands. Are you from another world too?" asked the girl.

"Another realm. One called Storybrooke," said Henry. He was officially weirded out now.

"I'm Sora!" said the brunette.

"Riku," said the silver boy.

"I'm Kairi," said the girl.

Henry slowly started to have an inkling as to what was going on, but the bigger question was... _which one of his stories was he in?!_

He had been obsessed over _Kingdom Hearts._ Had kept all his written fanfiction in his laptop in the same folder with different titles. He could be in any one of them. Half of his stories were self inserts that crossed the Story Book with the Kingdom Hearts storyline.

He just hoped it wasn't one of the darker ones. Ones where the Beast was his grandpa. That would be bad. Very, very bad. Though nowhere near as bad as the ones where he fell with Riku and ended up turning evil thanks to Maleficent.

"And this is our raft," said Sora, bringing Henry back to the present.

"Looks pretty cool," said Henry diplomatically. Sora beamed, putting his hands behind his head in that familiar manner.

"So how'd you end up on the beach?" asked Sora.

"I woke up in the water, and saw the shore. Figured my best chance was to swim and hope for the best. Seems to work for my mom and grandma a lot."

That was when his stomach decided to protest. He hadn't eaten since dinner, and all that swimming with heavy clothes on had worked up quite the appetite.

"Sounds like someone's hungry," giggled Kairi.

"If he really was swimming in all those clothes, then no wonder," said Riku sensibly.

Now that he was out of the water, the outfit he had on was becoming uncomfortably warm.

"I can take him to my house. Odds are mom still has some clothes that might fit him better. You're too small, Sora."

That made Sora irritated, but he didn't deny the accusation.

* * *

From the look of things, he had arrived roughly a week before the raft was to be completed, which meant he had a few days before the story started. He still had his clothes, but they were in his backpack. He had been stuck borrowing Riku's old ones, which were far lighter and more importantly dry compared to what he had been wearing.

At least he was able to keep his shoes.

A few discreet inquiries helped Henry narrow down which story he was in. Not by much, but enough to eliminate some of the darker ones he had written out of boredom. Riku was genuinely nice, and the "lie detector" that his mom claimed to have passed down to Henry. At least enough to detect those with genuinely good hearts.

Riku was too nice to be as evil as some of the stories he wrote. Which was a relief, actually. Those stories _barely_ had happy endings.

It was when he was walking along the beach, trying to make sense of everything that he found it.

"No way. The Book?"

Henry bent down and picked up the infamous book that started it all. On the front were the gold-emblazoned words _Once Upon A Time_...and when he opened it, he could see himself drifting on the sea until he swam to the beach of Destiny Islands. It wasn't until he found a note in the front that he realized which story he was in.

"Of course. It would be the one with Naminé surviving in it. She's the only one who can manipulate the story like I can."

He had written only ONE story where Naminé lived, and that was one where he had the power to turn good into bad, and bad into good.

That made him feel relieved. Even if it meant he now had the power to involve his overly complicated family tree and had to explain this to his mother. Good thing he had been meaning to make some tweaks to the story before he posted it anyway.

"What's that?"

"An old storybook. Looks like the tide washed away most of the ink though, so the words are really faded. I might be able to remake it if I have enough time to decipher the words," said Henry. It wasn't entirely a lie, and it was hard enough to explain without telling them about fanfiction.

"Maybe you could write our story instead, if the ink has been washed off," said Riku joking.

"I think I might. It'll be easier on my eyes," agreed Henry, leaving out the part where the book wrote itself.

* * *

 _A few days later..._

Henry was outside when the darkness came. The same darkness that swallowed up his birth mother Emma. He still had no idea how that happened, and he had been so caught up in turning her good again that he had forgotten about his laptop in the Sorcerer's Mansion.

 _This world has been connected..._

Those ominous words that started everything. He knew what happened next. His character fell with Sora.

Naminé, it seemed, had other plans. He felt the water again. Only this time it wasn't hot or cold. It simply was.

What was going on?

Henry looked down and saw...his birth mother in that dress she was wearing when she accidentally altered time? There on the stained glass was his family, including his mom Regina. All around the edges were people and things Emma had begun to consider important to her, like her car and her jacket. The stained glass was gray, almost jaded looking.

Going through the motions was easy, since he picked the same ones every time.

He wanted to learn magic, because he was tired of being on the sidelines protected when something bad happened. He also wanted to learn how to use a sword, since it was fairly common in the Enchanted Forest, and odds were his grandfather would be willing to teach him how to use it. If not, Killian or his grandmother Snow would.

Being on the defensive only made things take longer.

The next platform was his grandmother Snow White, only the stained glass looked more like the one he remembered, not the Disney version. Fighting the heartless was easy. He wouldn't be a Charming if he wasn't brave to the point of stupid.

He wasn't afraid of the monster Heartless either. His grandfather was the Dark One, and his mother had been turned into the Dark One. A large monster was nothing compared to when Rumplestiltskin got _creative_ while in a foul mood.

Even if the third and final platform had made him pause. It was his mom Regina, only she was in her neutral evil side rather than the Evil Queen.

She hadn't been amused when he had pointed out she had gone from chaotic evil to neutral evil. His mother Emma had though, and they had spent a few hours putting everyone into alignments for a laugh.

Emma, Henry, and Killian were all neutrals.

Gold was strictly lawful evil. They had debated _that_ one for an hour before Henry pointed out that while his deals were often more trouble than they were worth, he did always hold up his end.

His maternal grandparents were lawful good. As was Robin.

Regina was neutral evil, as she still had some Evil Queen in her, as much as she hated to admit it.

Zelena (his aunt through his mother Regina), and Cora (also through Regina) were all chaotic evil. Thankfully only one was still an issue.

Waking up on the islands and watching Sora chase after Riku, only to be torn upward into the sky, Henry felt his own body lifting upwards.

He woke up with Pluto licking him in the face, his clothes still firmly in his bag along with the book, and a keyblade in hand.

* * *

"So. There are two chosen keyblades. Which one do we follow?" said Donald.

"I don't mind if you go with Sora. He's got less experience with adventuring and saving the day compared to me, and I still have to find my family."

"Why don't you come with us Henry?" asked Sora.

"Maybe later. I heard Merlin lives in this world, and I think I'll learn some magic from him first before I come with you," said Henry diplomatically.

That, and he knew that bringing Cora into this mess was just asking for more trouble than Sora could handle. The last thing they needed was for the Queen of Hearts to suddenly become competent and ripping people's hearts out left and right for defying her.

He had only met that side of her once, and he wasn't going to risk seeing it again. Not after seeing the damage she caused his mother Regina.

"Yeah, ol' Merlin lives on the outskirts of town. He's the man to see about magic," agreed Cid.

Henry wondered if it was a good idea to bring back _his_ Merlin, but decided against it. He might get mad because he accidentally brought one of his stories to life without meaning to. Besides, they still didn't know what happened to Merlin thanks to losing three weeks of memory.

"Hello? Master Merlin?" said Henry.

"Come in! Come in dear boy! Did the king send you?" asked Merlin. From the looks of it he was about to head out on vacation.

"King Mickey didn't send me. I was hoping you could teach me a bit more about magic before I went out adventuring," said Henry.

"Quite the prepared one aren't you? Very well, let's start with the basics..."

Henry was an attentive learner, and caught the grasp of magic very quickly. He couldn't wait to show his mom what he learned. Magic was in his blood, on both sides from multiple sources.

* * *

By the time Sora showed up, Merlin was coming back from picking up supplies in another timeline to teach Henry the second tier magic because of how quickly he learned it.

"Henry! You won't believe the things we saw!" said Sora enthusiastically.

"I believe. After all, the heart of a true believer is required for certain magics," said Henry amused.

"Henry here has been a most enthusiastic pupil! He grasps the basics faster than Arthur ever did!" said Merlin pleased.

"Both sides of my family know magic."

They just assumed because he was born in The Land Without Magic that he couldn't use it.

"Henry, why don't you finish reading that third tier fire magic while I teach Sora how to use it?" suggested Merlin.

"Sure thing."

"Third tier? How fast does he pick spells up!?" said Donald in shock.

"Henry has a very strong capacity for both Black and White magics. And he's been learning them at a phenomenal rate. You could learn a thing or two from him Sora, Donald."

"So this is the ship you were using Sora?" asked Henry. It was just as interesting on the screen as it was in real life.

"This ship is powered on smiles, got it?" said a rather cross Donald.

"I don't think we'll have any problems with that," said Henry grinning. He was enjoying himself too much.

"So Henry, have you been writing in that book you found?"

"It writes itself," said Henry, showing him.

"Hey look! There's us in Wonderland! That Queen of Hearts sure was grumpy!" said Sora.

Henry managed not to pale when he saw what she looked like. It was _definitely_ Cora. Thankfully without him there to catalyze anything, she stayed the same as her Disney counterpart.

"Looks like we're coming up on another world already!" said Donald, before he gave Sora the evil eye "And don't you come near the controls again, Sora!"

Henry frowned. He didn't recognize that world. So he looked in his book, and his eyes widened as the page filled out.

"The Enchanted Forest?"

"Eh?"

"The Book said that this world is called the Enchanted Forest," explained Henry.

"Gosh Henry, that book sure sounds useful!"

"It only records, you can't change the content without serious consequences," Henry warned them.

"Alright, everybody off!" said Donald once they parked the ship.


	2. Destiny's Story Chapter Two

Henry took one look at Snow and the Dwarves, and sighed. His guess had been spot on.

This _was_ the world where the Evil Queen was.

"Guys, maybe I can talk the Evil Queen into leaving Snow White alone," suggested Henry.

"Don't be silly Henry! Snow said that the queen throws anyone who tries to reason with her in the dungeon!" said Sora.

"It's still worth a shot. Who knows, this whole thing might have been sparked by a monumental misunderstanding."

"Well if you're going to try and talk some sense into the queen, we'll go with you!" said Sora.

Henry thought on the fly.

"Why don't you go talk to the Evil Queen and I'll guard Snow White? She might be persuaded by you more than me. After all, you have two representatives of King Mickey and Queen Minnie. You'd have an easier time getting in than I would. And I could guard Snow White while the Dwarves are off at work mining," said Henry.

"Great idea!" said Sora.

"Now wait a minute!" said Donald.

"Think about it this way Donald. Would you rather be envoys of a king welcomed with open arms, or would you rather be caught skulking around like a thief?" said Henry sensibly. He knew he had the cranky Duck there.

"Fine, but Goofy stays here with you!" said Donald.

"Yeah, no telling what would happen if the Queen were to show up," said Sora.

* * *

Their course set, Donald and Sora went to try and reason with the Evil Queen. Meanwhile Henry waited for his mother to show up in disguise to trap Snow White in a sleeping curse. Considering how the games went, generally Sora and the others showed up during the parts where the bad guys tended to make their final gambit.

Goofy had long since fallen asleep when the 'peddler woman' showed up.

Henry was the one who opened up the door.

"Hey Snow, I think someone's here to sell you fresh fruit," he said, lying through his teeth. He might as well get this over with.

Snow White came up close, and when they were both within arm's reach of him Henry grabbed their arms.

Something inside of him clicked, and in the span of a breath, Snow's gasp of surprise and the Queen's hiss of annoyance at the idea of being caught changed.

The feminine dress on Snow White faded, though her facial features stayed the same.

"Henry? What's going on?" she said in confusion.

"What am I wearing?" said Regina in the same breath.

"Hi mom. Hi grandma. I can explain everything..." said Henry with a wince about how his mother was going to react to what he accidentally did.

* * *

 _In the Evil Queen's castle..._

"Where is she?" said an irate Donald. Sora just looked bored, but he was starting to get worried too.

Suddenly the doors to the audience chamber opened up, and what they saw next had Sora torn between laughter and worry.

The Evil Queen had Henry's ear firmly in her right hand, and he looked more resigned than anything. Snow White was also there, as were the dwarves. Goofy just looked confused.

"Your Majesty, these two claim to be envoys of King Mickey," said one of her evil lackeys. He eyed the woman who bore a remarkable resemblance to Snow White with a wary look.

"You're dismissed. I'll deal with these intruders myself," said Regina, slipping back into her Evil Queen persona with ease.

He bowed, before making a hasty retreat.

Donald tried to make an introduction, but Regina ignored him.

"Honestly Henry, what were you thinking? You know the Sorcerer's Mansion had latent magic all over the place!" she scolded him.

"I forgot I left it there! We were so busy trying to bring her back from the Darkness that I didn't think about where it was! How was I to know one of the empty books would end up on top of it?" complained Henry, wincing as he rubbed his ear.

"It was an honest mistake Regina."

"Don't get me started Snow. In case you've forgotten I've been trying to get _away_ from my Evil Queen side, and now I'm back wearing...this," said Regina in disgust.

"Look at the bright side... if we run into Robin I can simply send him and the Merry men here. And in this world Zelena hasn't tricked him into thinking she's Marion," said Henry. That seemed to slightly improve Regina's mood.

"Uh... What's going on here?" said Sora.

Henry winced.

"Sora, Donald, Goofy... I'd like to introduce my mom and my grandmother."

Sora stared.

"Snow White's your mother?" said Sora in disbelief.

"Other way around," said Regina dryly.

"She's your _grandmother_?!" said Donald in shock.

"It's a long story involving a curse that kept them at the same age for twenty eight years, and a lot of other things," said Henry tiredly. "The 'Evil Queen' adopted me as a baby and raised me for thirteen years before my birth mother broke the curse."

Regina was still in a foul mood because she was stuck as the Evil Queen again.

"At least this time I'm not stuck under a sleeping curse again," said Snow tiredly.

* * *

Sora and the others basically forced Henry to explain what was going on.

"So let me get this straight. Your mother is Snow White's daughter and your dad is Beast's son. Your adopted mom is the Evil Queen, and your grandmother on that side is the Queen of Hearts. You also have an aunt who's the Wicked Witch," said Sora, trying to keep it straight.

"Where I'm from, the Beast of Beast castle isn't a nice person. He's also the son of Peter Pan, who's also evil," said Henry tiredly.

"That is one complicated family tree," said Goofy. Donald nodded.

"It's also why I'll be avoiding the Beast and the Queen of Hearts. Though if you think that's bad, my mother Emma is the best friend of Maleficent's daughter Lily," said Henry.

"I have a headache," said Sora.

"Ditto."

"Well, just remember that the Evil Queen isn't as evil as everyone thought she was, and she's not after the Princess anymore," said Henry diplomatically.

"Hey wait... if both your mom's are royalty, doesn't that make you a Prince?" said Sora.

Henry made a face.

"I think I'll go show my mom some of the new tricks I've learned," said Henry. She would probably be thrilled to have something to share with him.

* * *

 _With Regina..._

"So what is it you wanted to show me?"

"See that pot over there?" said Henry. He had taken her a little outside the castle without anyone knowing save his grandmother. Regina looked over at the pot, mostly to humor him. " _Fire!"_

Her humor turned to shock as he shot a fireball at the pot, destroying it.

"What... how?"

" _Kingdom Hearts_ has a spell set that comes with all keyblades. I figured since I was going to be stuck here I might as well learn some magic, since it's on both sides of the family," said Henry proudly.

"Well at least it's not just a fancy toy," said Regina, before she grinned. "I'm glad you woke us up, Henry."

"I'm just glad I didn't have to watch you be evil," he said, hugging her.

"Now if only you hadn't forgotten your laptop where one of the empty books could fall onto it..."

Henry sighed.

"To be fair, that was practically the only place I've been able to get some peace and quiet, and Grandpa doesn't mind so long as I don't walk in on anything," said Henry.

It wasn't like Rumplestiltskin cared if Henry decided to stay in the library for hours on end, since he usually wore headphones and was rather quiet. Most days he forgot the boy was even _there_.

"So where is the 'former' Dark One?"

"Well since he's also the Beast, he's likely in Beast's Castle under a lot of fur. I'm going to avoid that place because the last thing we need is him running around with Maleficent and the others."

"I'm going to need a list of people to avoid," said Regina tiredly.

"I'll get you the books once we're out of here. But the main bad guys are Hook, Maleficent, Jafar, Ursula, Hades, and Oogie Boogie."

"Who?"

"The Boogeyman. He's from _Nightmare Before Christmas. Kingdom Hearts_ is like a cross between _Final Fantasy_ and the Disney films."

"Oh, _those,"_ said Regina in disgust. She _hated_ that Snow White movie.

"I might be able to turn Hook back to our side, but I really, really want to avoid Pan. And he's supposed to be a _good guy_ here," said Henry in equal disgust.

Killian Jones, aka Hook, was dating his mother Emma. Pan might be his grandfather, but he was a real jerk.

"Just be careful Henry."

"I will mom. Sorry I dragged you all into this mess."

"At least you woke me up. So what sort of story is this anyway?"

"It's fanfiction. Basically one where the 'Author' falls for the 'Artist'," said Henry with a blush. He liked Naminé.

Regina's eyes gained a gleam.

"And you're the 'Author' I take it?"

Henry refused to answer.

"Well as long as you have fun and we get out of this 'fanfiction' it's alright. Just remember to send Robin this way when you see him. I refuse to deal with Snow White without a buffer."

"If I remember right, my 'character' has the ability to use the Corridor of Darkness. I should be able to visit often enough that I can help keep you from slipping hot sauce in her coffee," said Henry snickering.

"Now there's an idea."

* * *

Sora and the others gave Henry a look.

"So your mom and grandmother are okay with you traveling to other worlds and fighting monsters?"

"They're from the Enchanted Forest. They actually more surprised it took so long for me to learn how to use a sword, and they never thought to check if I had magic. It's not like I'll be facing ogres or anything," said Henry shrugging. Facing a pissed off Maleficent in dragon form was more dangerous.

Besides, Kingdom Hearts was a kid's game based off Disney. That had more or less cemented that it was okay for him to go off adventuring and hopefully find out what happened to his mother Emma.

Considering that Snow White never had kids in the movie, and she was still the current Dark One, he was betting he'd find her at the end, likely as a final boss. He hadn't accounted for his birth mother going evil, so she was likely to unaffected by the trance state both his grandmother and mom had been in.

"So who's your dad?"

"The son of the worst villain in the Enchanted Forest, collectively called the 'Dark One'. Basically an embodiment of all the Darkness that exists in magic. Pretty much omnipotent, and capable of making deals that usually end up coming back to haunt you."

"What om..."

"Omnipotent means having great power or influence. Kind of like a god. The Dark One is something like a genie, except instead of a lamp they're bound to a dagger and they don't grant wishes. They do, however, make deals."

"Oh."

"Speaking of genies...it looks like we're about to visit Agrabah next," said Henry.

"Agrabah?"

"Desert world," clarified Henry.

* * *

"How is it that you're the only one who doesn't get caught in the quicksand?" complained Sora.

"Because I knew it was there and was quicker than you were in getting out," said Henry.

He had found a certain quill in Merlin's house, which the wizard had given him. Along with a notepad. Henry had used a pen while he was in the wizard's house, but he had kept the quill which had been a gift. Even if he didn't want to use it like Isaac had.

"Get us out of here!" shouted an irate Donald.

"Keep your feathers on," said Henry.

"Need some help?" asked a voice behind him. He had heard the irate yells of the duck and the surprised shouts of Sora and Goofy.

"I think I can handle this... there's my notepad," said Henry to himself, having gotten a new one while visiting his mother. She had felt happier knowing Henry had his ink and a copy of the Author's quill on him in case something went wrong.

"What are you doing?" asked Aladdin.

"Magic," said Henry. With a quick dip of the ink and a few motions of his wrist to write a simple sentence, the quicksand suddenly solidified under the trapped trio and rose from the sand as a solid platform of sandrock.

"What... how did you do that?" said Sora, amazed.

"Magic," said Henry by simple explanation.

"Wait, if you could do that, then can you find Kairi too?" asked Sora hopefully.

Henry firmly shook his head.

"Small things like turning quicksand into sandstone under your feet is fine, but big changes have bigger consequences. It's a really bad idea to rely on magic to get everything done for you... Trust me, my family's learned that lesson the hard way."

Magic made things harder long term, which was why he didn't like using the quill that often.

Aladdin looked pensive.

"I never thought about it like that," he admitted.

"If you were to turn yourself into a prince using magic, then eventually it would come out that you're just faking. The magic will wear off or something worse would happen. Where I come from they call it 'Equivalent Exchange'. Obtaining something means that you have to lose something in return."

Like in Castle Oblivion. To lose is to gain, to gain is to lose.

Aladdin looked disappointed, but he did get the message.

"I was really hoping to use Genie to help me get this girl I like too," said Aladdin.

"Trust me, if she can't like you for who you really are, then she's probably not the girl for you to begin with," said Henry sagely.

"You've got a point. I'd hate to get her because of a lie."

It was around that time that a monkey and a flying carpet appeared.

"Abu!"

"...You could always wish that you could understand what your 'friend' is saying, rather than trying to interpret what he's trying to say," suggested Henry.

Aladdin blinked.

"That honestly never occurred to me. It would save a lot of headaches later..."


	3. Heart of a Nobody Chapter One

"That guy's not Vivi," said Roxas. As the world around him froze, and he saw zeros and ones, something seemed to snap into place. He heard something, and looked up.

A teen about his age was falling from the sky. He had messy black hair and his eyes were closed, but somehow Roxas knew they were green. He instinctively moved to brace himself when the strange teen fell towards him, except he didn't feel anything. No body crashing into him, not even the sensation of being flattened.

And yet strangely, he knew he hadn't imagined it at all.

He suddenly clutched his head, as memories seemed to slam into his mind.

At first he saw flashes of _his_ memories, things that had been forcibly suppressed.

He remembered what happened, and where he actually was. WHO he was. And he grew angry at being lead around like a puppet.

The second set, however, left him confused until he realized they belonged to the odd teen he had seen falling towards him. He had no idea who this 'Harry' was, or what his connection was to him personally, only that their connection was now very strong. So much so that it was unlikely they'd be able to separate anytime soon.

* * *

Roxas managed to hide his anger at "Diz" for putting him in this fake place, but he was able to slip a note into Axel's pocket before he was removed. He just hoped his friend found it before it was too late.

Axel managed to find him on their favorite spot.

"You remember?"

"I'm being watched extensively. If he figures out I remember everything, he'll use Naminé to erase or hide it again. Even so, I'm not going back to the Organization. Xemnas is hiding something and I don't like it."

"They'll kill you, you know," said Axel.

"They can try. If I can't give them the run around and lead them on a chase through worlds, then they deserve to catch me," said Roxas snorting.

"What happened?"

"I saw something. Something strange. I think it has something to do with why my memories were brought back before the end. I have a feeling that the ending has been rewritten."

"Rewritten?" said Axel.

"It's just a feeling. But I don't think this is going to end with Sora getting his memories back from me."

Roxas clutched the area where his 'heart' would be.

"Something in here is saying that their plan is about to get a nasty surprise when Sora wakes up. Something no one will expect and even fewer will be able to stop."

Axel was gazing into the twilight.

"I hope you know what you're doing Roxas. I can't lose you too."

Roxas looked at his best friend.

"Me too. If I'm right, let's have some icing on the cake," he said, before he returned to 'his' bedroom, making it look like he had slept through the night.

Axel almost couldn't believe it. For the first time since Roxas abandoned the Organization, he had hope.

He just prayed that things worked out like Roxas felt it would.

* * *

 _In the mansion..._

Roxas was still pissed, but made it look like he only just now got his memories back. By now, he had begun to figure out what had happened.

From what he'd been able to tell, the teen he saw falling had _his_ Heart, and a mistake while using the Corridor had lead to him somehow _**merging**_ with Roxas on the grounds that the heart wanted to be back where it belonged.

The only reason that the worst to have happened was that his memories were unlocked was because the teen had been pretty much unresistant about the idea of merging with someone else.

From what he saw of the other boy's memories, he could understand why. For all the crap he had to put up as Sora's Nobody, it was nothing compared to how bad "Harry's"life had been. If losing his body to Roxas meant starting with a clean slate, he'd gladly do it.

Roxas didn't feel pity for Harry, because he knew it wouldn't be appreciated. At all. Instead he made a silent agreement that whatever happened next, they'd face it together in one body. Even if it meant that Harry's well hidden anger issues and hair trigger temper was allowed to come out and play for once.

He had a lot of practice burying his rage until it bordered on the unhealthy, and dammit he was tired of holding it back when he just wanted to strangle people.

So Roxas went to where Sora was, gracefully returned the memories...then blacked the hell out from exhaustion.

* * *

Diz, or his digital counterpart, frowned when he realized Roxas wasn't disappearing like he was supposed to. He turned to Naminé, suspecting she had something to do with this development.

"What. Did. You. Do?" he asked, barely containing his anger.

She smiled at him, her expression more than a little smug.

"Absolutely nothing, outside of keeping my silence."

"Why is that _thing_ still here?! He should have gone into Sora!"

"It is odd," said Riku, with Ansem's voice.

"He did give up Sora's memories. In a few hours, Sora will wake up like planned. But Roxas had his heart returned to him, so he won't be able to fully merge with Sora like you wanted."

"What the hell do you mean his heart returned to him!?"

Naminé moved over to the console, and replayed the 'struggle tournament'. Specifically the point when Roxas looked up and then braced himself for impact from above, only for nothing to happen. They had ignored it, thinking it was a glitch. After all, Axel had hacked their fake Twilight Town and they thought he had something to do with it.

"Roxas and the one containing his stolen heart merged together, so now he doesn't have to disappear for Sora to be whole again. Though I have no idea how the heart found him again," said Naminé frowning.

She had looked into Roxas' slightly odd behavior and couldn't stop silently crying for _hours_. After that she never looked again, once she confirmed there were now two people inside Roxas, one of which was unconscious.

It was obvious to her what would happen next. The second one would provide the 'body' while Roxas provided the 'heart'. The two souls would have to find a way to coexist if this were to work properly.

Diz looked pissed, Riku just looked confused, and Naminé was openly smug about the whole thing.

Either way, they had to let Roxas go. Otherwise he'd just leave on his own...or get Axel to help.

* * *

Roxas woke up to see... Donald and Goofy?

"Ow."

"You alright?" asked Goofy.

"Aside from a splitting migraine, I'm fine," said Roxas. He managed to sit up, and felt some relief when Donald helpfully cast a **Cure** on him.

Roxas silently took stock of his situation. He was still in _his_ clothes, though he didn't have the Coat. He could live with that. His magic was pretty low, but considering what just happened he could handle that much. There was a decent dip in his health, but that had gone back to normal when Donald used **Cure** on him. He could check his keyblade once he was out of the mansion, as he didn't want to answer any awkward questions.

About the only oddity he could tell was the lingering feeling of someone being behind him, but Sora hadn't woken up yet so he dismissed it.

Once he introduced himself to his Somebody and his friends, Roxas parted ways, heading to the station tower. But not before he picked up some sea salt ice cream to share with Axel. He absentmindedly traced something on the package, and didn't even notice when his magic briefly flared.

* * *

 _On top of the station tower..._

He sensed more than saw Axel show up. He held out the other ice cream bar to him, so it was with some confusion when he heard his best friend pause.

"...What happened to your hair?" he asked finally, after he accepted the ice cream and sat down.

"What do you mean?"

"It's red. Almost the same shade as mine, actually," said Axel.

"What."

Roxas got up, went to find a mirror, and let off an unholy shriek.

"WHAT HAPPENED TO MY HAIR?!"

Axel winced at the sound, but for some reason found himself grinning. So Roxas had walked all the way up here without noticing? Then another yelp emitted from inside the tower.

"WHY ARE MY EYES _GREEN?!"_

Roxas was twitching once he realized, yes, his eyes were now a bright green color that were almost the same shade of Axel's own, and his hair was a bright red the color of fire.

If you didn't know any better, you'd swear he was Axel's younger brother or something.

"You didn't notice?" said Axel, openly amused. Roxas twitched.

"Of course I didn't _notice_. You think I wouldn't have noticed seeing _red_ hair when I'm supposed to be _BLOND?_ Or the fact my eyes went from blue to green for no apparent reason?!"

Axel reached up and touched it.

"Looks normal enough to me," he said snickering.

"I'm going to kill Diz. Or possibly that other idiot who was helping him. Just because I didn't disappear into Sora doesn't give them the right to dye my hair a different color!" said Roxas irate.

"...Yeah, why haven't you disappeared?"

"Hell if I know. I just remember blacking out after giving his memories back, and waking up outside the pod with a splitting migraine."

Axel and Roxas continued to enjoy their ice cream.

"Well, it looks like we'll be in this together then. I got told not to come back unless I brought you with me, and that failed spectacularly," said Axel by way of conversation.

"I would have kicked your ass if you tried to drag me back. Xemnas is up to _something_ and I have the feeling neither of us want to be a part of it," said Roxas flatly.

"...You sure nothing else happened? You sound...angrier...than usual."

Roxas gave him a deadpan look.

"I'm a _teenager_. I believe it's in the description that I'm supposed to be moody and angry at the world in general, especially considering the fact I jerked around like a puppet by someone just to bring Sora back," he responded.

Axel thought that one over, remembered some of the other teenagers he'd seen, then conceded the point.

"Well I'm going to check the mansion. Hopefully we can find something useful, like a spare coat for you."

Roxas made a face.

"I'll go exploring around town. Let me know if you find anything and we'll meet up down there," said Roxas, pointing at the stairs that lead into the train station. Axel nodded before disappearing. He wouldn't want to go back to that place either if he had been used like a puppet and nearly _died_ there.

* * *

 _In the mansion..._

Axel looked around, and eventually found Naminé curled up in a closet.

"So they just left you behind," he said to himself. She jumped, now fully awake.

"Axel?" she asked, rubbing her eyes.

"Yup. Did they just ditch you now that Sora's awake?"

Naminé nodded.

"They weren't too happy finding out Roxas survived."

Axel looked peeved at the reminder of the hoops Diz had made his best friend jump through.

"Any idea why they dyed his hair red?"

Naminé blinked.

"His hair's red?"

"Yeah, almost the same bright red as mine. He wasn't too happy finding that out either," confirmed Axel.

"I guess merging with his stolen heart must have had some side effects once he lost the parts that belonged to Sora," she muttered.

"Stolen heart?" repeated Axel.

Naminé nodded.

"That 'fight' with the fake you interrupted. Something broke through before you did and hit Roxas. From what I could tell, his heart somehow found it's way back to him and merged with his body."

"So that's why he remembered so early. And it would explain the sudden mood change he had."

Naminé shuddered.

"The memories he got from his heart...they're so full of pain and rage. It's quite likely he's picking up on the pent of up fury from the person who has his heart, and it's seeking a proper outlet."

Axel paused on the way out of the mansion.

"He's still Roxas, right?" he asked with concern.

Naminé nodded.

"Roxas is dominate in the body, but don't be surprised if the other wakes up and starts making appearances. Though from what I briefly saw when I peeked inside his memories, he's more likely to let Roxas run the show and only come out when there's imminent danger."

"So what's this 'other' like?"

"He has a 'saving people thing', his words, not mine. He's also got a lot of pent up anger and rage because he's been forced to do the right thing even when he'd rather be selfish, and people have been keeping him locked up 'for his own good' without telling him anything of what's going on. He just wants to be a normal kid, but circumstances beyond his control keep forcing him to jump into danger just to save people who he feels should be solving their own problems. It doesn't help that he has a mad man after him since he was an infant."

Axel winced at each word. No wonder he was willing to let Roxas be the dominant personality. His life sounded _horrible_.

"However, if he does become your friend then he's one of the first to jump into the fray if it means keeping them safe. Unfortunately from what little I saw, there aren't nearly as many who'd do the same for him."

Roxas saw Naminé, who quickly managed to hide the fact she was laughing.

"Yeah, yeah. Laugh it up. I'm still going to punch Diz in the face for dyeing my hair because I was out cold."

"It wasn't Diz. I don't know if he even _has_ a sense of humor like that," said Naminé, giggling.

"And the eyes?" he asked pointedly.

"The change in your eyes and hair can be blamed on the other presence inside your body," she informed him.

Roxas twitched, looking torn between annoyance and frustration.

"Is this permanent?"

"I have no idea."

His annoyance switched to defeat, before he said "What now? I mean outside of us going on a long overdue vacation and generally causing havoc to people who annoy us?"

Axel grinned. He was pretty sure _that_ came from the 'other' Naminé mentioned.

"First things first. Roxas, see if this fits," said Axel, handing him a spare Coat he found in the mansion.

It not only fit, it turned out to be the one that was stolen from him when he was thrown in that fake Twilight Town. He even found the munny he had left in his pocket still there.

His desire to break Diz's nose only increased, but he managed to hold it in. after all, the jerk wasn't even there to vent his frustrations on.


	4. Broken Dreamers Chapter One

Not for the first time, Diz cursed Organization XIII. How they found the copy of Twilight Town long enough to destroy it and corrupt all the data, he'd never know. Now he was scrambling to find a replacement, and there was no way in hell he was sticking Sora's Nobody in a system where the Master Control Program could run amok.

No, he'd have to find another solution.

Naminé wandered in. She had wisely stayed out of sight while he rampaged and cursed the fact that he would have to find a replacement.

She tripped over one of the many books scattered on the floor, and her hand immediately reached for something to steady herself. That hand grabbed a book off the shelf and it fell open while she fell to the floor.

Diz glared at her, until his eyes settled on the now open book. He picked it up, and the more he read, the stronger an idea formed.

"Yes...this could work. This could work nicely..."

Naminé rubbed her poor nose, which had hit the floor pretty good.

"What could work?" asked a third voice. Like Naminé, he had wisely avoided the room.

"They believe that my plan to restore Sora was delayed when they destroyed the copy Twilight Town. But it's not the only world out there that had a digital copy..." said Diz cryptically. He looked at the corrupted files, and then at the video where Sora and his companions slept. Fortunately Roxas was held off sight, and the Organization had little use for Sora himself. At least, not at the moment.

"What is it?"

"A school. At least that's what it had always appeared like. The beings that inhabited it ignored me, for I was not part of their game. However it was where I gained the initial programming to create the fake Twilight Town. Perhaps a bargain can be struck."

Naminé had a bad feeling about this.

* * *

 _A few days later..._

The Moon Cell program. For something that sounds so simple, the very presence of this place terrified her. And they wanted to stick Roxas here? Was Diz mad?

Riku didn't like it either. There was something about this place. Something _terrifying_.

He kept his silence, as Diz found the main program and struck a bargain.

Sora would be allowed to escape with his companions, unharmed, and a transport sent for them. They would have no knowledge of this world or the one beside it. And any record of this world would be erased from his memory.

Naminé noticed that Diz made no such bargain for Roxas. Something she feared would have unexpected consequences for them all.

 _Roxas POV..._

He felt...weird. Disjointed. Like he was living a double life and didn't realize it. Sometimes, if he looked quick enough, he could see his reflection move too slow. Like it was an afterimage of an afterimage.

And the headaches. Dear god, the headaches were more like the worst migraines you could imagine.

He had enough, and walked to the nurse's office.

Miss Sakura was really nice, if a bit strange.

" _Are you alright, …?"_

What was his name again? He looked at the window, and saw his reflection. Except there was another him directly behind where he was standing.

"Who...am I?"

Sakura looked at him blankly, before asking a little more slowly _"Are you alright, Roxas?"_

"Roxas? Is that who I am?"

The door opened, and he turned. A girl in white was at the door.

"I don't like this. Especially _that_ ," she said, pointing slightly behind him.

Roxas turned, and vaguely saw a shadow of himself.

" _We did offer the same to you. We find you fascinating,"_ said Sakura. Her voice was distorted for some reason.

The girl shifted uncomfortably.

"I hate it even more when you do that. And if I agreed now, then Diz would catch on to what you did. Once _he_ awakens, then I'll consider it. As much as I'd love to speak about not disappearing, even I know what happens when Nobodies return to being Somebodies."

Sakura smiled mysteriously.

" _You are fascinating creatures, and your very existence will allow us to leave this place. So long as our goals are the same, we will not hinder your work... Naminé."_

Roxas felt dizzy. He felt himself floated onto the bed, and new memories hit him like a brick. But they weren't his memories. What was going on?

* * *

 _Naminé POV..._

She looked at the downed form of Roxas and his 'shadow' with a tired expression. Running the same spell twice on the same person was exhausting.

She wondered how Diz would react to the fact that there were essentially two copies of "Roxas" running around this place.

Or that the Moon Cell had it's own reason for keeping him alive, after he returned Sora's memories. In the chapel was the pod, containing Sora and the others.

She saw Riku behind her, frowning.

"What is that?" he asked, looking at the 'shadow'.

Naminé smiled, a little bitterly.

"That is Roxas. Or a copy at any rate. You didn't think a sentient program on the level of the Master Control Program he disliked so much wouldn't consider an alternative option to meddle?"

Riku stared at the shadow. It was a mere afterimage at best, but he would swear the image was becoming solid the longer he watched.

"What is it?"

" _In terms you might understand, that is an extra save file. A copy of the original, created to serve our purpose. There is no reason that the original should be destroyed if a copy may suffice."_

Riku shook his head.

"He contains a vital part of Sora's powers."

"Sakura" smirked.

" _This world has it's own will. If necessary, it shall provide the 'powers' required. All he must do...is walk the path we put in front of him. The long dream_ must _end."_

Riku couldn't help but shiver. From what, he didn't know, but the words echoed in his mind like some depraved song that refused to stop. Diz had spoken those very words when he placed Roxas here. Naminé had spoken a variant of them when they first started.

She clearly realized the same thing he had.

Had this place maneuvered them, solely so they could bring Roxas here? Why? And for what purpose?

The shadow copy of Roxas slumbered, blissfully aware of the fact that _he shouldn't exist_.

By unspoken consensus, neither Naminé nor Riku spoke to the older man about the shadow Roxas. It wasn't their place to speak of it, and to be honest both of them felt that something was terribly wrong about the original plan to begin with.

Unseen by either of them, new programs began to form in the Moon Cell. Because of the fact that this was a place Diz had merely found, rather than created, he had no control over the programs. He had no control over the Moon Cell...he was merely an observer.

And he had made the mistake of leaving Sora in the Moon Cell with Roxas. Of course it would examine him to find what the man found so fascinating about a child.

So many memories. So many hearts touching a single soul.

The Moon Cell was quite busy, discreetly recreating the souls that had touched Sora. Memories upon memories. Mere copies of the original.

Naminé knew, but kept her silence. She had no desire to inflict the wrath of something as dangerous as the Moon Cell.

…

Roxas didn't know what was going on. Miss Sakura in the Nurse's office was silent about the truth, but he had the unpleasant feeling she knew what was going on. The migraines were getting worse.

Suddenly there was a rumble in the school. Silver figures intruded for a brief moment, before they were forcibly removed.

" _It's starting. Will you be cut down, or will you stand and fight?"_

What was the nurse talking about?

The rumbling became worse. He could hear the distant cry of alarm from someone he didn't know. Roxas didn't think, he was as senseless as a newborn infant just learning to walk. He bolted, running without knowing why. Just that the rumbling meant something terrible had started.

It took him a few moments to realize he was in front of some sort of pod. He went down on one knee, as memories hit him like a brick.

That bastard. Diz, Xemnas, they had used him like a puppet.

Seeing the figures nearby, looking at the pods with some confusion before dismissing them, he didn't think. From the way the man with the swords was looking at him, he was the enemy.

He didn't think twice. He summoned Oblivion and Oathkeeper. The man with swords and his friend smirked, clearly realizing his intent. The sound of blades clashing violently filled the air.

For a brief moment, there was nothing but the here and now.

Then he felt the pain on his hand.

Markings appeared as if cut into the back of his hand with a razor sharp knife, and the one standing to the side looked at him with disbelief.

"Impossible...you're a Master?"

The migraine from the memory dump was coming back, twice as bad.

" _It's time."_

The older male turned and found the 'school nurse' standing there.

" _You are not necessary. You have already confirmed your status as a master. Begone before I eliminate your presence from the Moon Cell."_

The man stared, before growling something.

"Saber, we're leaving!" he barked. The man with swords disappeared, looking very confused.

"What am I?"

" _The one known as 'Diz' was forced to change his plans due to interference. He struck a bargain with Us, and so we allowed him to place the pods and yourself in our program. However he only bargained for the safe release of the ones inside. He made no mention of yourself."_

"What?"

He was completely confused at this point. Then he realized they weren't alone.

" **Summon your Servant, so that the long dream may finally end."**

The words came from a girl about his age, with short black hair and blue eyes. Her face was obscured by the familiar cloak.

"My...Servant?"

Roxas winced, as the odd tattoo on his hand flared painfully.

Behind him, Sora stirred briefly in the pods. It took a moment for Roxas to realize that the memories were being returned...except instead of vanishing his form was only becoming more solid...even as his vision started to blacken.

" _ **Are you my Master?"**_

Roxas knew no more as he blacked out.

Diz turned to Naminé, his expression beyond furious.

" _What. Did. You. Do?"_ he demanded through clenched teeth. Not only was Roxas _alive_ , but now he could clearly see that a dead Replica was walking around alive and well.

"She didn't do anything. You made a deal with the devil and never considered the fact that They might use Roxas for their own ends," said Riku.

Diz glared at him.

"You knew."

"Roxas had a shadow that they didn't allow you to see. All his memories were copied the moment they were made, including the ones Naminé just returned. I don't know if the copy took Roxas' place, or if Roxas took over the copy. But Sora will awaken on schedule. As for that girl... I have no idea how she's there," admitted Riku.

Seeing Xion again brought back mixed emotions. Then his eyes widened in disbelief.

"What the..."

Diz turned, and saw several _more_ anomalies appear. Some he knew, some he had only heard of in passing.

Riku. Kairi. Aqua. Terra. Ventus. Even Naminé was there, though he could clearly see the real one behind him.

"What is going on?"

"Sora's long dream is ending. Soon he'll awaken and as agreed, be set loose with the others. But Roxas' dream is only beginning. Whether he awakens from it or continues in unending slumber is up to him now. It will allow no further interference from you," said Naminé flatly.

Diz watched as the time accelerated. Roxas reappeared in the infirmary, watched over by the strange figure who had appeared. The copies moved about, but he had no idea what their purpose was. Naminé smirked.

He could only watch from the screen as Sora's group awakened in a copy of Twilight Town, right down to the station. It was the original exit point Diz had created, miraculously untouched. Sora had no knowledge of the Moon Cell, or that his Nobody still existed. And a discreet scan showed that all of the parts of Sora that Roxas possessed, from his memories to the other half of his powers, had been returned completely.

Yet Roxas was still alive. Not only that, but the scan clearly showed that he had a body of his own, and Diz _didn't know why._

He couldn't leave this place without knowing what was going on and why Roxas was alive. However his attempt to get in and demand answers (even his digital counterpart) was blocked. Riku snorted.

"It doesn't want you to interfere. Somehow I have the feeling it'll only allow observation at this point."

* * *

Axel was not in a good mood. First he finds Roxas, only for his best friend to be trapped in a new world that he's never seen before, and now the lesser Nobodies were being rebuffed by an unseen force. How was he supposed to retrieve Roxas at this rate?

Rather than trust the lesser Nobodies, he infiltrated the world himself. Only to end up knocked out without warning.


	5. Divine Heart Chapter One

**_Here you go,_** ** _Takeshi Yamato. I hope this fits most of the requirements you set for a Nanoha/KH story. Hopefully the muse will get a firm kick in the rear for it!  
_**

* * *

 _The Keyblade War. A time when men and women fought over the true "Χ-Blade", only to for it to be scattered beyond recognition in the end. In the wake of the Keyblade War, a new order dedicated to protecting_ Kingdom Hearts _was formed. The members of this elite group were Keyblade Wielders who chose to defend the light, rather than use it for their own selfish purposes._

 _Time has passed, and a new Master has been chosen from the remnants._

 _However, her quest takes her to a place that will change the destiny of the realms, in more ways than one..._

* * *

She can still remember that fateful day. She had been walking home with her mother when they stopped for an ice cream. One moment she was standing with her mother, the next she felt herself snatched by a strange man with a terrifying grin.

She started crying loudly as she wanted to go back to her mother, but she got slapped for it.

Then she felt herself falling a few inches before warm hands caught her. She looked up at a woman with kind blue eyes and light blue hair. She looked angry at the man, and had a strange weapon in her hands.

She didn't really remember what happened next, but found out later that the man was someone who targeted young children like herself and was sent to prison where he was less than welcome by the general populace.

Even criminals have standards, and they generally disliked creeps who targeted young girls.

Nanoha would never forget the woman who saved her life.

Aqua. She had no last name, and her clothes were a little...odd... but the one thing she remembered the most was the weapon in her hands. It disappeared the moment the authorities arrived.

She would see her one final time before she vanished to wherever she came from. Aqua bent down and handed her a different blade to the one she had before.

"This blade is called Rainfell. It has served me for many years, and I just know you can put it to good use when you're older. Follow the Light, little one," she told her, before patting Nanoha on the head.

And like that, Aqua vanished.

* * *

 _Ten years later..._

Nanoha blinked at the sunlight and withheld a groan. Yet another boring day.

Ever since she was almost taken by a pedophile, she had been stuck taking lessons with her siblings. It wasn't that she hated swords...she certainly didn't like the memory of being completely helpless when she was five and taken from her mother...but she didn't exactly _enjoy_ waking up so early.

Though she was fairly certain it was the look in that creep's eyes that turned her off men. At fifteen, Takamachi Nanoha was very well aware she preferred girls to boys, and thankfully her family and real friends accepted that choice.

Her mother's only request was that they get a surrogate or adopt so that she might have grandchildren.

Nanoha got ready for yet another day of her last year in middle school. She had always felt she was destined for more than just being a regular girl, but that had never panned out.

At least she didn't have to go to cram school anymore. Her grades were some of the highest in the class, especially math.

Sighing, Nanoha stared out the window wishing something, anything would happen.

She had no idea how complicated her life was about to become in just a few short hours...

* * *

A blond teen was running for his life. He had thought he could handle sealing the Jewel seeds. He was wrong. So very, very wrong.

Being a sensible person, rather than stick around to try again when his first five attempts failed spectacularly (to the point he was bleeding from a few injuries caused by the backlash) he was running like his life depended on it. Because it most certainly did.

The seeds weren't sentient, but they could still hold one major grudge.

A branch launched by the rather irate lost logia sent him sprawling into the ground. In a last ditch effort to save his life, he turned into his ferret form.

The seed flew past him, and he cowered hoping like hell that it didn't find him.

He let out a silent sigh of relief when he sensed it had disappeared. Mental, magical and physical exhaustion hit him like a brick. He had been trying to collect the seeds for two days straight with very little rest, and to make matters worse he was experiencing some magical backlash from the failed sealing.

 _~Someone...anyone...please help...~_

He passed out, the odd red gem he discovered while in another set of ruins hanging off his neck like a collar. He had learned quickly that "Raging Heart" was very choosy about it's owners. It would let him use the base functions, but the higher ones were beyond his reach.

His telepathic plea was sent on a broad range of frequencies, and it bounced around until it hit something.

* * *

Nanoha paused on her way from the mall. She just wasn't feeling up to shopping today, despite her recently gained allowance. And any junk food she bought would inevitably come back to bite her during her sparring sessions with Kyouya, her brother.

She wasn't a prodigy, but she was still better than most girls her age. Then again, kendo was considered a _boy's_ sport.

Nanoha grimaced at the memory of the tongue lashing her brother gave her when she overdid it with the training regimen after a particularly unpleasant encounter when she was nine. One of her friend's family had an unpleasant business associate who tried to kidnap Shizuka, and would have succeeded had it not been for Nanoha causing a big enough fuss with her rather rough attacks using a branch she found. She managed to fend him off long enough for the adults to arrive, but had nearly gotten shot in the process from a gun she wasn't aware the man had.

She had nearly trained herself to the bone to avoid being 'weak' again, as it had brought up memories of her near abduction.

Needless to say Kyouya wasn't too happy finding out she collapsed during gym class and the reason behind it. It had taken her an entire year before she could train on her own again, and even then her family kept an extra close eye on her because it was clear she needed someone to set the limits of what she was allowed to do.

She left the mall after saying by to her friends, deciding to take a walk around the park. She had a can of mace in her bag...a remnant of her almost being abducted ten years ago and a compromise seeing as how she wasn't allowed to carry her bokken to school except for kendo meetings. She wasn't even _part_ of the school's kendo club, because she preferred the personal training her brother gave her and Miyuki.

It was because of this that she heard the plea for help. It took her the better part of two hours to find the ferret, and another to locate a vet that was open this late.

This was not how she planned to spend her bi-weekly allowance.

"A ferret?" said Shiro, her father.

"Is it tame?" asked her mother.

"It didn't bite the vet while she was prodding it, and it didn't freak when she picked it up either," said Nanoha.

"I suppose you could keep it... but you'll be responsible for taking care of it. I don't want to hear it got sicked because you forgot to feed it," said Momoka after considering it.

"Yes mom. The vet said I could pick it up in the morning. She wanted to keep it under observation for the night just in case," said Nanoha.

That and she needed Nanoha's parents to give permission before she released a potentially wild animal to the girl.

It was a good thing tomorrow was the weekend.

* * *

 _The next morning..._

Nanoha came with her older brother Kyouya to pick up the ferret. While he lived with his wife, he still came to the dojo every day without fail to train his sisters. He had inherited it after the wedding, once their father deemed him ready for the responsibility.

The ferret didn't try to bite her once, though he looked a little nervous around her brother.

It wasn't until they had to deal with a strange intruder in the form of a blob monster that their lives were upended.

Nanoha wasn't panicking like most would. Instead she looked at the blob for weaknesses.

Whatever it was, it wasn't alive and that dispelled anything that would hold her back.

She didn't want to be a killer, and her father accepted that fact.

However seeing the blob nearly hurt her mother, Nanoha's passive personality shattered. She would not let this _thing_ hurt her mother.

So she considered the "ferret's" offer carefully. The odd red jewel seemed to resonate with her, and for a brief moment she felt the sensation of falling.

Below her was a strange platform that looked like stained glass. It almost felt like a dream, but it was a bit too vivid, too real.

 _ **So you are the one who seeks to become my new Master. Well, you have spirit, more than the Ferret-Boy does. Let us see if your will and soul can handle the power you seek!**_

Nanoha found herself confronted with three choices. A sword that wouldn't have looked out of place in a mecha series, a white staff with a gold top and red jewel, and a magical shield that had a deep red jewel in the center.

 _ **Chose wisely, for there is no going back. Will you chose the valiant swords, relying on your skill and magical ability? Will you chose the stalwart staff, blasting your enemies from afar? Or will you chose the hardy shield, preferring defense to offense?**_

Nanoha didn't think twice about her choice. She reached for the staff and once her hand grasped the shaft of the weapon, she heard the voice again.

 _ **Are you sure?**_

She removed it from the pedestal. The stained glass crumbled from under her, revealing a new one. This one had a figure on it she recognized from her memories.

Aqua.

Once again, there were three pedestals, though one was empty.

 _ **Chose what you will give up. Close range skill or defense.**_

Again, she didn't hesitate. She was confident in her own skills from years of training with her brother, so she picked up the shield.

 _ **You wish to abandon the sword?**_

"I can train with my family. I don't need anymore help than that. But a defense against my own blasts would be nice," said Nanoha, mostly to herself.

It was always a good idea to have some proper defense when you planned to blow things up.

This time a set of stairs appeared. Nanoha found herself trying to fight monsters not too dissimilar to the one that had attacked... was still attacking her house.

She pushed aside any doubts or fear. It was nothing compared to the time she had nearly gotten killed protecting Shizuka.

 _ **Good. You'll need that courage for what lies ahead. For as the light grows, so does the shadow behind it.**_

Nanoha woke up in time to realize that she was forming a new barrier jacket. Thinking quickly, she formed something similar to what Aqua had worn the day she saved her. However around her was a cloak that almost looked like her old school outfit. In fact if she pulled it around her, it could have been mistaken for it.

In her hand was the same staff she had picked from that weird dream.

 _~Stand By Ready, Set Up.~_

The voice was quite a bit less imposing, but she recognized it immediately. It was the same one that talked her through the strange trials.

The rest of the night passed by in a blur, but at the end of it there was one very nervous ferret-turned-boy in the remnants of the Takamachi living room and a surprisingly understanding family looking at the youngest daughter.

Nanoha had always felt like she was meant for more than just running the store, or being an accountant (mostly due to her way with numbers). Becoming a magical girl wasn't that far fetched.

"Well, I can't say I wouldn't have jumped at the chance at that age myself, and Nanoha is rather responsible...except when it comes to her own health. I'll allow it on the condition that she doesn't push herself or this...linker core...to the point she endangers her own health," said Shirou after considering it.

Nanoha perked up at that.

Yuuno Scrya, once he realized Nanoha had busted him as an animagus (whatever that was) to her parents, was given the spare bedroom while Shirou called in a few favors to get the house repaired...and the defenses upgraded.

Magic wasn't as unheard of as Yuuno might have thought, and the only reason why the home wasn't already defended was because they lived in a city, where such attacks were rare.

He did wonder why Nanoha was switched from a "bokken" to a spear-like weapon they called a naginata.

* * *

 _In the dark abyss, a figure twitched as it sensed the awakening of a new Keyblade wielder. But this one felt different...and familiar. For one thing the keyblade felt off, for lack of a better word._

Far away in another world, a girl with wine-red eyes looked up from where she was reading. She felt the winds of destiny shift slightly. Not enough to irreparably change her own path, but enough that a few tweaks were made.

Fate hid the wince as her wounds cracked open, and her familiar looked at her worriedly. Aruf came in and changed the bandages with practiced ease. Her strange healing spell was good, but there was a point when even **Cure** couldn't handle the damage done by that woman.

After she found out about her older/younger sister Alicia, and realizing she was nothing more than a replacement that her mother discarded of the girl, something had snapped in Fate. However she found the files about _Project: Fate_ , she had high doubts the TSAB would help her. After all, they would just use her to get to Precia, and despite everything done to her, she still loved the woman.

That didn't mean she was still a mindless drone though. If she found an out, she was going to take it, loyalty be damned. Aruf hated her 'mother' more than her Master did.

Like Fate, she'd jump at the chance to get out of this nightmare they were stuck in.


	6. Force of the Keyblade Chapter One

She had long black hair held back by a single ribbon that changed color. Her eyes were like the deepest waters. Her skin was practically flawless. Her figure, to kill for. Her voice, like a symphony to the ears.

She was the single most popular human singer in the galaxy, and she had only risen to prominence in the wake of what were known as the Clone Wars. Rumors said she was possibly Force-sensitive, but most dismissed it as idle gossip for the simple fact that if she _did_ have talent to use the Force, the Jedi would have most certainly snatched her up and she'd be out in the battlefield with the others, not singing for the masses.

She looked in the mirror, and smirked to herself.

What most people didn't know was that the rumors weren't rumors at all. She _used_ to be a Jedi Knight, but she gave it up to pursue her dream.

Xion Heartsong, or as she was called among the public "Knight Symphony" nodded to herself as she finished getting ready for yet another concert. It was hard being a popular singer...everyone and their grandmother wanted you to sing for them for hours. And she refused to lip sync to a recording.

"Ms. Knight? They're ready for you," said her assistant, a nervous Twi'lek girl.

"Thank you. Let's go knock their socks off," said Xion cheerfully.

Once she was on that floating stage, she lost all sense of time. She was in her zone, and she wouldn't stop singing until the stage lowered itself and the lights dimmed. Her manager had to schedule intermissions, because he found out the hard way she wouldn't stop unless she knew it was time for a break.

* * *

It happened on the way to yet another concert. As neutrals who did not cater to one side or the other, the ship that Xion had her manager purchase for their use in getting around one planet to another for her career, she had a great deal more freedom than most chartered vessels.

Namely in that they could stumble across a battle zone and be allowed to leave unscathed, provided they proved that they weren't carrying the enemy first. It had yet to happen, mostly because Xion could hack into Jedi transmissions, thus alerting them to hidden battle areas... but it was still a risk. Her manager didn't ask how she knew the code into the secret transmissions, but the crew was grateful for it. Some of the merchant vessels had run afoul of a battle between the Republic and the Separatists and found some of their cargo seized by one side or another.

Without warning they were seized by a passing battle cruiser from the Separatist's side.

Xion and the others lined up and waited for the boarding party. It was the agreed upon strategy in case they were captured by unknown vessels.

It wasn't like they needed someone to stay behind on the ship... Xion's presence had provided enough of a surprise for anyone stupid enough to try and hold them hostage.

It was a strict secret among the crew that Xion had a blade similar to the light sabers that the Jedi and Sith favored. A blade that could unlock anything, no matter how advanced it was.

She called it a Keyblade.

Xion held back any feelings she had upon seeing the Sith presence on _her_ ship. The _Millennium Star_ was _her_ ship, and she detested Sith even before she went into her own form of hiding.

For all the Jedi were wise, they could be incredibly stupid at times.

They followed their captor's instructions, mostly because they knew the routine. If things looked to be dicey, then Xion would help them escape. She was incredibly protective of her crew.

 _In the holding cell..._

Xion was perfectly calm as she leaned against the wall. Odds were Dooku would inspect the ship, find nothing of note, and release them in due time. All they had to do was be patient and not cause a fuss.

Meanwhile, her mind drifted back to her days in the Jedi Temple. Specifically the final ones, before she "resigned" as a Jedi Knight.

 _Her outcry over the barbaric actions of Knight Vos had earned her a stay in a place many younglings avoided like the plague. It meant that the council had doubts about her ability to use the Light Side, and feared she might go Dark._

 _Going "Dark" seemed to be the ultimate fear of all Jedi. Which was patently ridiculous to her._

 _If being Light meant casting aside her own humanity just to become an emotionless drone, then she wanted nothing to do with it. At the same time, she refused to join the Sith...she had heard rumors of a Sith Master that was as deceitful as he was terrifying._

 _So when she was finally released, and given a stern warning not to give into the temptation of the Dark Side again, she went to the library._

 _It took her a full month to find the forms, and a week to find her official Jedi code number._

 _In simple terms, the bureaucracy of the Temple declared her "dead, but still active"._

 _Which meant that she was officially dead in the eyes of the Council (because she was turning away from their teachings), but she was active enough to still support it._

 _Unofficially, she had resigned from the Temple and thus her status as a Knight._

 _What little she found out through the net was that according to an official casualty list for the Republic, she had been killed in action...but a discreet check confirmed her ID was still very much active until her body could be recovered._

Hearing the alarms, Xion sat up.

 _'Now what? Don't tell me they were stupid enough to declare they abducted us on route?'_ thought Xion irritably.

Apparently Dooku _was_ arrogant enough to hold her for ransom, along with her ship. Everyone thought her a piece of flash that they could use as leverage.

Hearing the familiar hum of the light saber, Xion had enough. She drew her Keyblade and unlocked the door herself...startling Skywalker.

He stared at her and the weapon in her hand in disbelief.

"How did you do that?"

"Practice," she deadpanned. She was far too calm, and it was clearly worrying the war veteran. With ease, she opened all the doors revealing her crew and friends.

"Guys, looks like Dooku was stupid enough to hold us for ransom, so the _Jedi_ decided to save us. Don't know why they bothered," said Xion. Hearing the agreeing snorts of those around her, she could feel Skywalker's confusion.

Oh she was going to enjoy this.

Skywalker followed them, more than a little confused and baffled, as Xion calmly used the Force to deal with anyone getting between them and their ship. Once on board, she destroyed the one thing holding it in place with a lightning attack.

By that time, he had finally copped on to the fact she wasn't a normal hostage.

"Who are you?"

Xion smirked and gave him her ID number. Her _Jedi_ ID number. She wondered how long it would take him to find out she was a former "dead" Jedi.

"Miss Xion, we're ready for take off."

"All crew members, be ready for a fight just in case. If Dooku was stupid enough to try for a ransom, he might try to get us back," said Xion.

* * *

It took a few months before she ran into Skywalker again, but when she did, he no longer looked like a lost puppy.

"You're a Jedi like me. Why aren't you on the front lines?"

"Former Jedi. The Council doesn't like to tell people, but there is a form that allows you to formally resign. Officially my status is 'dead, but still active'."

Skywalker stared at her incredulous.

"How can you be 'dead, but still active'?"

She shrugged.

"I guess the Council really doesn't like it when Jedi opt to live their own lives without being forced to suppress their emotions all the damn time. I know I was tired of their lies after what Vos did, and they claimed I was 'going Dark side' because I dared to question his methods on the battle field. Once they let me out of the room, I looked for a way to resign, hence my current status. I'm not going back," said Xion flatly.

Skywalker's eyes went hard.

"They claimed you were going to the Dark side because you openly argued against Vos after the massacre?"

"I can tell you where to find the form. I've heard rumors that one of the Knights secretly got married, and if that's true it's going to be a battle between love and duty. If I were that Knight, I'd resign but stay on the active roster after coming clean. Otherwise they're leaving themselves open to the Sith," said Xion. She suspected Skywalker himself was the one who secretly got married, because he was the first in a long time who came into the Order too old to be properly brainwashed.

She had similar circumstances...she appeared at fourteen and her ability in the Force was too strong for them to let go. The fact she had some serious amnesia and her emotions were naturally dull made it easier to bring her in.

Skywalker made sure to memorize the form number, and to look up his own Jedi ID code. But first he was going to talk to Padme about resigning so he didn't have to hide their relationship, while staying on the active rosters.

* * *

Xion wasn't surprised in the least to hear about the "scandal of the millennium". A well loved and well known Knight had _resigned_ publicly so he could come clean about marrying one of the popular Senators and not get yelled at by the Jedi Order.

Surprisingly, there was very little, if any public outcry about the idea of Skywalker and Amidala being married. No, the only ones complaining about it were the Jedi themselves.

Xion was rather gleeful to note that the Skywalker/Padma pairing had taken over every single tabloid. They found it rather daring to note that while Skywalker had resigned as a Knight, he was still on the front lines as a member of the Republic's Jedi force. He was still considered a Jedi by the public, but it was clear that the Order was scrambling to come up with an appropriate response to such a massive breach of protocol. If they didn't handle this carefully, it would give a major blow to public relations.

"You did this," said Sarah, her Twi'lek assistant.

"Of course I did. I had the feeling he was the source of the rumors that one of the Jedi had married in secret, and with how much power he has, he'd attract the Sith like flies to honey because he was teetering between love and duty. That's the last thing the galaxy needs," scoffed Xion.

"I gotta admit, it's nice not being the source of the tabloids gossip column. I like _boys_ , thank you very much."

Xion grimaced at the reminder. Because she never showed much interest outside her music, the vultures of the tabloids loved to speculate on her love life.

Still, it was nice to tweak the nose of that stuffy council.

Xion couldn't help it. She was grinning rather mischievously.

Sarah sighed.

"Of course you would find the fact Skywalker pretty much opened the floodgates hilarious."

Most of the younger generation, those that reached the stage of Jedi and didn't like the stuffy atmosphere of the Order, had followed her example and found the forms with Skywalker's help. Suddenly there were more than a few Jedi who had cut ties with the Temple, mostly because they were tired of being forced to the front lines for a battle they wanted nothing to do with. Some of them even _agreed_ with the Separatists, which stirred up a hornet's nest of its own.

Xion had only made things worse by publicly helping the newly freed Jedi find work in the private and public sectors. Some she even hired.

The Order found themselves at a major crossroads, because a good chunk of the Jedi who left did so to get married and have children of their own, which was a major No-No.

For centuries uncounted, the Jedi had been considered monks of a sort, which wasn't that far off. The issue was that they took the potentials so young that it was almost impossible for them to find work _outside_ the Temple. The brainwashing went deep.

Xion grinned as she saw her manager.

"Is it time?"

"You're enjoying this mess you started far too much," he complained.

"It's about time they got a wake up call!" said Xion.

"Yes, yes. You do realize you have an appearance with Senator Amidala in ten minutes, right?"

Xion rolled her eyes.

Padme Amidala was one of THE most popular senators in the Senate. She was also a staunch supporter of the Republic. As such a tag-team of the two was sure to get some major publicity. In light of the mass-resignation from the Jedi Temple, she was one of the few who was actively working to bring the 'monks' into the work force.

Most of the senators didn't really care about the sudden disarray of the Jedi, even if the timing was terrible. To them, it was obvious what the outcome would be.

The Jedi would go crawling back to their temple and things would go back to the way they were, minus the odd Jedi who actually succeeded.

Which was why Xion arranged this publicity stunt with senator Amidala, who had a known interest in the Jedi and had even married one.

They were going to make sure that the number that crawled back to the temple was a lot lower than the Council was hoping for. Especially for those who had left in order to pursue the dream of marrying and having children.

* * *

"Ms. Heartsong? It's a pleasure to meet you in person, especially for what you did for my husband."

"Likewise, Senator. Let's just say I had a personal interest in irritating the hide bound fools of the Council," said Xion, shaking Amidala's hand.

Thanks to the fact they had come out about being married, Amidala no longer had to conceal the fact she was also pregnant. The doctor had told her she was carrying twins, a boy and a girl. Needless to say it had set the gossip mongers into a feeding frenzy.

Padme had nightmares of what might have happened if she had tried (and failed) to keep the children a secret, especially once their parentage came out. Especially what it could have done to her husband Anakin long term.

Resigning from the Temple had lifted an enormous weight off him, and even the odd whispers of the High Councilor were having little to no effect.

People knew about their relationship, and more importantly they accepted it.


	7. Divine Heart Chapter Two

Yuuno watched as Nanoha used the long pole with the carved wood with increasing ability. He knew she was good with a sword, as he had watched them fight with the bokken (which were apparently practice swords). So he was confused why her father had switched her to this weapon, which she wasn't familiar with. Sure it increased her range, but it was clear she wasn't used to it.

It wasn't until he saw her battle yet another jewel seed, this time inside a small dog, that he realized the truth.

Nanoha was treating her staff like the practice naginata. The way she swung the staff, and used the cannon mode, which if he squinted did resemble a spear...it almost made sense for her to learn how to use such a weapon. The question that bugged him the most was why her father had switched them without a word.

So he asked her.

"When I was five, I was almost kidnapped. So the next year my dad got me started on our family's sword style so I would have some idea of what to do with common items like pipes and large branches. Then almost four years later a business partner of a friend's family tried to kidnap her, except I fended him off. I was almost shot because he had a gun and didn't like the fact a mere kid had stopped him."

Nanoha grimaced.

"Of course the way Kyouya chewed me out for overdoing it in training soon after..."

Yuuno stared at her.

"You trained until your fingers bled, so they put a watch on you, didn't they?" said Yuuno, guessing.

"...I collapsed during gym and they took me to the hospital. I was put on restricted exercise for three months and my parents and older brother kept a close eye on how much I trained for nearly a year after. It wasn't until I was almost eleven before I was allowed to train on my own again."

Yuuno winced at the implications. So he tactfully changed the subject.

"What's an animagus?"

Nanoha's head whipped around to look at him oddly, before she remembered that he _technically_ fit the definition of an alien.

"We are so having a movie night if you've never heard that term," she grinned wickedly.

Yuuno stared at the movies, then looked at an amused Nanoha and her family and stated flatly "Magic does _not_ work like that."

"I don't know. The magic you talked about sounds an awful lot like someone using Arithimancy," said Miyuki with a straight face.

"What's arithimancy?"

"It's using math and equations to break down spells down to their base, and then altering them," said Nanoha without thinking. Seeing the look on Yuuno's face, she looked sheepish. "If I had known that using math to create magical spells was possible, I would have been using magic a long time ago. It's pretty much one of my best subjects, next to physical education."

"Yeah, Nanoha's taking college-level math classes. It's pretty weird having your baby sister help you with your calculus homework," Miyuki piped up amused.

"I guess she's one of those rare natural mages, who have a knack for using Mid-Childa magic," said Yuuno. Some people took to using the heavy-on-the-math style, others didn't. And those that did were generally snatched up by the TSAB after a certain point.

He found watched these _Harry Potter_ movies fun, and he felt more at home with the Takamachi clan than he had with his own aunts and uncles.

Even if he found himself helping around the bakery as 'payment' for borrowing their guest room until they collected the seeds. Since he looked about sixteen, and therefor old enough to be out of compulsory schooling, no one questioned his presence in the shop.

* * *

"...What is she _doing_?" asked Yuuno baffled. Miyuki was watching her sister, just in case her bad habit came back.

"Baton practice. After the...incident...the only way she could be pushed to the absolute limits was to become a cheerleader. She's currently the vice captain of her squad," said Miyuki cheerfully. She left out the fact that Nanoha could _terrify_ her squad mates into practicing whether or not they were in the mood to do so.

There was a reason why Nanoha had earned the moniker "White Devil".

Seeing her use Raging Heart like a baton with expert ease, before smoothly switching to a stance her father showed her with the staff, Yuuno had a revelation.

He _never_ wanted to be on the wrong side of Nanoha in close combat. She could decimate a rookie in seconds, never mind what she could potentially do with her cannon.

He had seen the effect of her sealing cannon. He had no desire to be on the WRONG end of such a massive magical blast first hand. He didn't know what sort of power Nanoha harbored within her, but it was blatantly clear the longer he spent time around her that she had the ability...no, the compatibility...to utilize Raging Heart to it's fullest extent.

The only reason the TSAB allowed him to keep such a potentially powerful Intelligent Device, despite where he got it, was because it simply refused to work for any of their mages, even if they had the power requirements. Eventually they dismissed it as a broken tool, so they gave it back.

"Ah! A jewel seed just activated downtown!" said Miyuki, seeing a massive tree appear in the center of town. Fortunately it was nowhere near the bakery.

 _~Cannon mode.~_

Yuuno and Miyuki stared at Nanoha, who wasn't playing with Raging Heart anymore. No, there was a deadly serious look on her face.

"Can we hit it from here?" asked Nanoha.

 _~You have the range, my Master. Once the target is locked, you may fire at any time,~_ replied Raging Heart blandly.

"Hey wait a minute! How are we going to explain a beam of light from the hill?!" said Miyuki.

"Let me handle that. I can create a displacement barrier, which should minimize the awkward questions from the authorities," said Yuuno. Though having to create one after everyone saw that massive tree was going to be a headache and a half.

The air around them changed, and it almost looked like they were in the Twilight Zone.

"Okay! Displacement barrier is up and running, so you should be able to blast that tree without being seen!" said Yuuno.

Nanoha carefully leveled the cannon at the tree, taking into account the angle and the level of the hill they were on. Such calculations were easy for her...she was in the advanced placement at school for math after all.

 _~Divine Buster~_

"SHOOT!"

A beam of girlish pink appeared from the opening of the staff, and Yuuno watched with some measure of horror as a fifteen year old girl sealed the tree from several miles away, at an angle, from on top of a hill when she couldn't even see the target.

If she was like this as a rookie...he was almost terrified/excited to see what she could do once she had more experience under her belt. It was almost like she was born for this sort of battle.

* * *

"Wait, so you have elemental spells preloaded into your spell matrix?" said Nanoha.

 _~That is correct, my Master.~_

"What spells do you have?"

 _~The three most basic of basic elemental spells._ **Fire** _ **,**_ **Thunder,** _and_ **Blizzard** _. All who pass through the Station of Awakening will eventually learn these three, though some have a personal affinity.~_

Nanoha decided to try them out after school.

"Do they need to be vocalized, or..."

 _~There have been those who learned to cast the most basic variations with a mere thought.~_

"Something tells me I'm going to have a lot of hours training ahead of me," said Nanoha.

 _Later, after-school..._

" **FIRE**!"

The massive stream of heat nearly scorched her eyebrows off.

Yuuno wasn't just staring, his mouth was dropped open in an unflattering gape.

"What. How. WHAT?!" stammered Yuuno.

"Raging Heart said she had three basic elemental spells pre-loaded in her repertoire."

Yuuno stared at her.

"What are the other two?"

Nanoha's grin did not inspire confidence. Far from it.

" **Blizzard**!"

Yuuno was somewhat terrified. If this was what Nanoha could do with _basic_ spells, he dreaded to think what she could do with advanced ones. The heat from the previous fireball combined with the freezing cold of the sudden ice spell. Clouds began to form in the sky above.

" **Thunder**!"

A massive lightning bolt hit the sky, sending out an unusual peal of thunder. It was too much for the sky to take, and without warning a sudden deluge of water started pouring, with peals of thunder and lighting.

"I think we can safely call this a night," said Yuuno, absolutely drenched.

"Nyahaha."

Nanoha had forgotten the most basic of weather science. Hot and cold air combined to make rain, and adding lightening turned it into a thunderstorm.

And since the skies were clear until she accidentally overpowered basic spells (she wasn't expecting them to be that powerful to begin with) they were completely soaked through by the time they returned home.

"Nanoha, you think maybe next time you play with those spells you could cut back a bit?" said Yuuno.

 _~My master's use of basic elemental spells was comparable to a second level elemental spells. She should be able to learn the higher level spells very quickly.~_

Yuuno whimpered at the thought of Nanoha overpowering spells of a higher level. Nanoha was scary. And that was _before_ that time of the month.

* * *

It was the dream again. Nanoha had been having it off and on for years, but she could never remember it afterwards. Recently though, it had been coming to her quite frequently.

In the dream, she saw the woman who saved her ten years ago. Only she was floating in a sea of darkness.

Blue eyes met blue eyes.

" _Ready for tonight's lesson Nanoha?"_

" _Yes Master Aqua,"_ replied Nanoha.

If one were to look at Nanoha's outfit, they would see she was in her barrier jacket.

" _So what do you want to learn tonight?"_

" _Well I seem to be overpowering some basic elemental spells. Raging Heart said that they were on the same level as the secondary variations,"_ said Nanoha.

The woman known only as Master Aqua smiled, as if pleased with the news.

" _In that case, perhaps we should start on the more advanced aspects of magic, rather than blade mastery for a while,"_ she replied.

Nanoha perked up.

 _The next morning..._

Nanoha woke up with a yawn. Strangely, she found it easier to remember her dreams lately.

Though she did draw some odd looks from Yuuno when he heard what she was mumbling over breakfast, still half-asleep.

"Why are you working advanced spell calculations at the table?" he asked.

And it _was_ a very advanced application of basic elemental-type spells. He knew elemental derivatives when he heard them.

"Just trying to figure out how to add to my spell repertoire," said Nanoha cheerfully. She was hopeful to figure out how to add them to Raging Heart before school was out.

Most of her teachers learned to ignore when Nanoha was doing a complicated math problem that was way above their heads by this point. She _liked_ numbers.

Yuuno looked at the paper and paled.

"Nanoha, you do realize that if you use this formula you'll..."

"I like big booms," said Nanoha cryptically. The bigger the better.

Her friends wondered if she was doomed to become a bomb tech or something, considering she was always tinkering with mathematical formulas to create _bigger_ explosions. She was so good at it that last summer she spent time with the Self Defense Force's research division working in the science department.

She had freaked them out so much with her calculations that she had earned the moniker the "White Devil", not that they called her that within her hearing.

No fourteen year old girl should be _that_ enthusiastic about creating big explosions.

Arisa and Suzuka took one look at the calculations during class, and promptly decided not to ask. Like Yuuno, they had become very adept at recognizing when Nanoha was plotting a massive explosion.

* * *

Fate landed on Non-Administrated world #97. Almost immediately she felt a shiver of foreboding, which was weird.

"Is it just me or is there some sort of ominous presence on this planet?" said Aruf. It was kind of terrifying.

Fate shivered.

"It's not you. It doesn't feel malevolent though. Let's just find those stupid jewel seeds, so Mother can be happy. Or at least not notice when we leave for good," said Fate tiredly.

This was the last job Fate planned to do for her mother. Once this was over, she was leaving.

It was close to nightfall when Fate and Aruf ran into a barrier. Most people wouldn't notice it, but there was a clear sense of "DO NOT ENTER!" around it.

"Aruf."

"Yes Fate?"

"Somehow I get the feeling something very bad or very good would happen if we barged in there."

"How so?"

"Just a feeling."

 _Inside the barrier..._

"DEAR SWEET MERCIFUL GODS, MAKE HER STOP! MAKE HER STOP!" shouted Yuuno over the loud roar behind him.

Nanoha was cackling wildly as she used her favorite outlet.

Explosions.

Unlike normally though, these explosions weren't _just_ fire. No, now they were laced with freezing cold ice bombs that fell from above and lightning.

"Poor Yuuno-kun. Just be glad this only happens once a month," said Miyuki with sympathy. She had noise canceling headphones, and had long since come to terms with the fact her sister was a psychotic maniac who loved to blow things up.

Fortunately for the world at large, Nanoha hated hurting others.


	8. Lost in Darkness Chapter One

They had liberated the Darkness from the Dark One, only to find that it refused to go away just because it no longer had a vessel. It had been tied to the Dagger, and it would not stop until it had a new soul to latch onto. It had grown stronger with each new Dark One.

Henry was terrified. The Darkness was swarming Emma, his birth mother. He was the one who dragged her back into this mess, when he had gone looking for her to break the curse. And now he had to watch his mother be consumed by the Darkness and become the new Dark One.

In his desperation, he reached for the one thing he had begun to fall back on to escape everything. Long before he had become the new Author, before he remembered magic and everything about Storybrook, he had found a mansion in the woods. In the study there were many, many empty books that he would later find out were empty stories waiting to be recorded.

He had taken one of the books with him when his other mother Regina, who ironically enough was the Evil Queen (ironic due to the fact his grandmother on Emma's side was Snow White), had been forced to remove their memories of Storybrook for over a year until Hook brought them back.

Henry had been the last to remember.

While he lived in New York, Henry had taken to writing in the empty book as a way to escape. At least, after he got tired of certain people yelling at him over the internet because they claimed his stories didn't work like that in the series.

He would swear it was his subconscious trying to remind him of the truth that got him hooked on Kingdom Hearts.

After one too many depressing or downright mean reviews online where he posted his short stories, he had started writing a new one in the empty book. It seemed to almost take a life of it's own, to the point where he was beginning to feel like he had accidentally written himself into his own story.

He didn't even have a name for it, but he found the act of trying to figure out how his main character would live and survive in the _Kingdom Hearts_ series soothing.

Henry took out his book, the one his mothers, grandparents, and pretty much anyone who generally got caught up in the madness that was Emma's life had seen him write in...and in a desperate attempt to do _something_ , threw the book into the swirling vortex of malevolent energy.

Instead of bouncing back, like everyone assumed it would, the darkness caught the book instead. For a moment, nothing seemed to happen.

And then it did.

The vortex seemed to be absorbed into the book, almost as if it were trying to consume it. The Dagger glinted with magic, as if it too were trying to fight off whatever was happening.

"What's happening?" shouted Emma.

The wind seemed to howl, and as the Darkness was sucked into the book no one spoke. Then the book slammed shut with a loud snap. It fell to the ground, and everything was silent. Then the book opened, and the pages flipped from an unseen wind.

That was far from the end though.

Just when they all thought things had calmed down, a new vortex appeared. This time from the book.

"Henry!" shouted Regina.

"Mom!"

Henry tried to hold onto his family, even Hook. But the pull was much too strong. He was sucked into the book...into the story.

Before any of them had the wit to do or say anything, the book slammed shut...with Henry inside.

"What happened? Where's Henry?" demanded Regina.

"He's... He's in the book," said Emma, picking it up. The inside pages were blank, which was somewhat terrifying because she knew very well Henry had written a lot in the thing before this happened. It had almost been full of his handwriting and imagination, from pencil to pen, whichever he could get his hands on at the time when an idea struck him.

She had encouraged him to write, since it let him vent in a healthy way and had even signed him up for a creative writing class. He had kept it up even after getting his memories back, because it was the one thing that wouldn't be changed by magic.

"Well let's get him out of it," said Regina. She went to take the book from Emma's hands, and the moment both of them were touching the book, words appeared.

Emma let go, and the words vanished. She touched it again, and more had appeared.

"That's Henry's handwriting," said Regina, upon closer inspection.

"I recognize this, or some of it anyway. This is the story Henry was writing in the book, though it looks a little...different."

"Henry was writing a story?" said Snow. She had seen him with the Book, but rarely paid him any mind.

"He got into it when we were in New York. I didn't see any harm in it so I signed him up for classes. He let me read his work sometimes," explained Emma.

"I've seen him writing in something. I thought he was doing homework," said Regina.

Emma found the book awkward and heavy. When they went back to her mother's apartment, they found the situation was even stranger than they had originally assumed.

Henry's story was writing itself.

* * *

It took Henry all of an hour to realize _where_ he was, and what had happened.

He was in his story, and the Darkness clearly latched on to the power of the fairy tale book in some way despite the fact it was a fiction.

He knew that the Disney stories were all wrong, and to be honest the idea of a mouse as a King was rather silly. The talking animals had never really sat well with him, and he would debate on them for hours online.

However, in here none of that mattered.

Henry tried to walk around, to figure out how he was going to get home...when he saw them.

The Heartless. There were hundreds, thousands of the things.

But that wasn't what worried him, oh no.

What horrified him the most was _where_ they were. More specifically the scene in front of him.

He had played the games often enough that he could tell which world he was on by memory at this point.

He was inside the Door to Darkness.

Henry face-palmed in dismay.

Why was he this surprised. Of course the malevolent dark forces would find it absolutely hilarious to throw the one who interfered behind a door that shouldn't be opened, with countless Heartless between him and escape. And without a keyblade or ability to use magic to boot.

In fact the only way he could get out would be if Sora or Riku were to magically open the door, or if he were to become his 'main character' from his sorta self-insert.

Ryxhen was an unusual Nobody who had limited memory of who he was, and he hadn't lost his heart in the conventional sense.

Unlike the other Nobodies, Ryxhen hadn't lost his heart to the Heartless, thus becoming a Greater Nobody (as Henry liked to call the ones who still looked human). No, he had used Heart Magic to remove it in an effort to save himself from the Darkness before his world was lost...except in the mess of trying to survive his heart went missing, thus turning him into a Nobody anyway.

He wasn't a Heartless, because he was still targeted by the creatures and they left their own kind alone. But he wasn't truly a Nobody either since he did have a heart, it was just missing.

Ryxhen was almost about to find it (while acting as bodyguard for Naminé) when Henry threw his story book into the Darkness. In fact he had found the final clue to who had his missing heart, and Henry was about to write who had had it all along when this mess came to a climax.

Henry couldn't get past the Heartless, and the odds of Sora or his group opening the door before he was turned into one were so slim it wasn't worth considering.

He was boned, no two ways about it.

So when he felt himself falling, it took him a few moments to realize what was happening.

He was entering into the Station of Awakening.

He walked the path, and it almost felt like he was in his games.

Except unlike the games, Henry saw two paths. One of light and one of darkness.

His mom and grandparents would want him to walk up the path of light, and be a hero.

His mom Regina (and likely his grandfather, the now ex-Dark One Rumpelstiltskin) would likely be thrilled if he went on the Dark path. To become an anti-hero, since there was no way he'd be happy as a villain. He'd seen where that ended, thank you.

But Henry was an almost even mixture of good and evil, Heroes and Villains. And to be honest, he was likely the _only_ true neutral in Storybrook that got dragged into their adventures, even if it was on the sidelines.

So why not live up to his real self, and straddle the powers of light and dark at the same time?

Henry walked directly in the middle and didn't stop. To his amazement, he didn't fall off the platform like he had feared for a moment, but onto a hidden path.

There was a reason Riku was his favorite character, next to Naminé. He walked the path of good and evil, and he came out on top.

Henry came out of that place with a new weapon and a very large target on his back. The Heartless were drawn to the Keyblade, after all.

In a fit of desperation, Henry reached into his satchel (now rather empty without his Book with the story he had written) and pulled out a very fancy box with his name on it.

Emma had gotten him a really nice box to keep his writing supplies for his birthday, along with some really fancy paper and a lot of notebooks that were filled with his stories. He had liked it to much that he had brought it with him to Storybrook and kept it in his satchel.

Regina, in an effort to give Henry something he could call his own that no one else would try and take away, had placed a blood spell on it so only Henry (or to a lesser extent Emma or Regina) could open the thing. He kept the key to the box around his neck at all times.

After he started writing his own story in the book, he had moved things around so that there would be a hollow area which protected a space just big enough for something about the size of an adult fist.

Something like his heart, for instance. It even had a bag to keep it safe.

He didn't think he would do this to himself, especially after what his great-grandfather did to him...which lead to his temporary exile and loss of memory in the first place... but Henry really didn't want to become a Heartless.

Besides, he had seen others do this enough times to get the gist of it. And now that he had a keyblade, he could use magic.

Henry channeled magic into his hand...and took out his own heart. It was really, really creepy and more than a little disturbing how easily that came to him.

He quickly hid his heart in the bag, then placed it into the box and locked it. He then put it back in his satchel and hoped it would be secure long enough to get out of this place.

He had played the games. He had read the graphic novels. From what he could tell the Heartless didn't really go after the Nobodies as much as they did normal people. At least not unless provoked. Some of them were very territorial, and all of them went after anyone with a weapon in their hand.

Henry walked as quietly as he dared, feeling very much like Frodo inside the realms of Sauron with the orcs all around him. Unlike the hobbit and his brave, loyal companion Sam, he wasn't there to destroy some mystical artifact his grandfather would have eventually gotten in his pawn shop at some point.

Because let's face it, Rumpelstiltskin wouldn't have passed up on an invisibility ring if it also contained an evil soul, if only to drain the thing and use up it's magics in something else. He _was_ the Dark One for crying out loud, and that sort of thing would have drawn him like moths to flame. That or any of the other myriad of villains who would have bartered it with the Dark One for something else, which made the point moot anyway.

Henry suddenly had the image of his grandfather with Gandalf the Grey complete with pipe, and had to hold back a snort.

Who was he kidding? Rumpelstiltskin would have thrown Saruman off the tower within a week and stolen everything inside for his library. Either that or made a deal and gotten the traitorous wizard thrown out of the place when he came to collect.

The image of the Dark One, leather pants and scales in all kept him amused long before he realized he was in trouble. The Heartless were starting to take notice _someone_ was in their domain with a heart.

Henry quickened his pace, and in spite of anything he dared hope for, his "hero's luck" held out.

The door was opening. The fake Ansem was right on the other side, and waiting to see what lay beyond.

Henry didn't hesitate. He bowled past the surprised evil Keyblade Master (or a fragment of one) and ran like hell out of the area.

He had no idea how to use a keyblade, very little idea how to use the magic that came with it...and he would openly admit being able to pull his heart out was a total fluke... and he knew very well that now was absolutely _not_ the time to experiment when he had that many Heartless breathing down his neck.

He brushed past the surprised faces of Riku and Sora, and narrowly avoided a lightning bolt from the bad guy. However his satchel wasn't nearly as lucky. A second blast made a big enough hole in the bag that his box was hanging out of it.

He didn't have time to stop. He had to get out.

He dove through the original opening Sora had gone through (past a very surprised Donald and Goofy, among others) and completely missed when the box finally fell out onto the ground. Goofy, being the sort of...person...he was, picked it up and stored it someplace safe until it could be returned to the odd teenager.

Henry immediately knew when something went very wrong, because the moment he left the castle and went outside, the tenuous connection to his heart frayed and snapped.

He felt himself falling again, except this time there was something much more sinister behind it.

Without his heart, he fell prey to the same forces that created the Nobodies.

His last vision was of Kingdom Hearts, shining brightly above...before he hit his head and his mind went blank.

* * *

A cloaked figure looked at the two Nobodies before him. One was a blond with blue eyes and white clothing that had black and white checkers on the shirt. He could have been any child of this world. But he was special. He was the Nobody of a potentially powerful Keyblade bearer.

The figure moved his hand, revealing the name Sora...which quickly rewrote itself into the name Roxas.

Then it turned to the other child. The one who was a bit more coherent than the newly formed one beside him

He was a bit older than the newly named Roxas. But his potential was nothing less than amazing. He seemed to hold a power he had never seen before, one entirely unique.

Almost exactly like Naminé, in fact.

He tried to find the identity of the soul that created this Nobody...and frowned when his Naming was viciously rejected.

The last time this happened...was when he had met Naminé for the first time.

"Your name?" he commanded.

The child, who's black hair curled around his head in a tamed fashion and who's brown eyes saw far too much for his liking, spoke. His name held the same vestiges of power that would best be served under his command, and no others.

"Ryxhen."

It was very obvious within the first few months that Ryxhen was not suited for the Organization in any active roles. While he picked up magic quickly enough, he didn't seem to have any predisposition to weapons. And that would only get him killed.

So he put the boy on the one thing he could do while still staying firmly under Xemnas' thumb.

He placed him as Naminé's bodyguard. The boy seemed to befriend the lonely female easily enough.

And there was another oddity. Ryxhen's emotions weren't missing, as much as they were muted to the most minimal amount. It was almost like he was developing a heart.

So he kept a firm eye on the teen, who seemed content to be around the other Nobodies and chat for hours with Naminé over art supplies.

She was delighted every time Ryxhen practiced his use of the Corridor and came back with odd paints and more paper.

All she ever got from the others were boxes of crayons, if they could be bothered at all to do something. She was lucky if they resupplied her paper and pencils.

Ryxhen had also introduced the girl to something he called 'origami'. Their efforts were crude and misshapen, but they gave Naminé something else to do with all that paper she had.

Xemnas couldn't help but wonder...

Exactly who was Ryxhen was when he had a Heart?


	9. Sky Blade Chapter One

A tiny, lithe figure lay on the oddly bent tree of star shaped fruit, watching the stars. Brown hair like cinnamon moved in the warm, tropic breeze, and brown eyes that were lightly tinted with bright amber looked up at the sky with contentment. The boy, not even a proper teenager yet, had a figure that came from years of being active and eating healthy. He was still very skinny, as his "big brother" Riku liked to remind him. Constantly.

One would have a hard time believing this was the next Sky Guardian who guarded the way to Kingdom Hearts.

"KWEEE!"

The boy sat up and yawned in a lazy manner.

"What's up, Cielo?"

"Avoiding work again, Natsu?"

"Riku-nii!" yelped Natsu.

A silver haired teen with sea green eyes looked at him with amusement, while another boy with hair almost the same shade as Natsu snickered at him. This was Sora, Riku's best friend.

Cielo, got up and let Natsu use him as a way to get down. He hated being short, but nothing he did fixed it. The adults who took care of the "orphan" who more or less lived alone on the island assured him he'd hit a growth spurt eventually.

Natsu didn't really live with any of the other kids, but he attended school with them. So long as he was healthy, happy and not into trouble, the adults left him be. He didn't particularly mind wearing the old outfits the other boys outgrew. Besides, he had Cielo.

The orange chocobo had the rare gift of flight, and with how small Natsu was he could fly for some distance. He also had a very vicious kick, but he was domestic so it was alright. As long as Natsu had his bird friend, he was perfectly safe. Kairi had even helped Natsu braid a simple strap with a name tag so people knew who the bird belong to.

Not that it mattered, because outsiders were so rare it wasn't worth mentioning, but Cielo didn't seem to mind.

"Come on Natsu! We need Cielo to complete the raft, and you know he only listens to you," complained Sora in good humor.

With Cielo to lift the heavy loads, the raft came together a lot faster and was much more sturdy. Needless to say the others agreed to take Natsu with them, because like Kairi he remembered a world very different from the islands.

He didn't regret leaving it though, even if he had only been five at the time. He remembered that some of the other children weren't so nice to him, and his father barely acknowledged he existed.

He just wished he could find the man who brought him to Destiny Islands and thank him.

"Come on Cielo. You know Sora will try to get out of work and leave it all for Riku-nii and you to finish," said Natsu.

"Kwee," agreed Cielo, nuzzling Natsu's hair.

"Hey, you were the one sleeping in the tree," said Sora teasing him.

"Yeah, but you haven't been able to beat Riku-nii yet with those practice blades," Natsu shot back. Sora made a face.

"I still say that weird intuition of yours is a total cheat."

Natsu smirked.

For some reason, whenever he was fighting he was able to go into a hyper-focused state. It was so powerful that he could almost literally see how someone would move before they did, even if he couldn't always counter it in time.

And that was before his eyes turned into a brilliant amber like a sunset.

He was the only boy who had been able to beat Riku consistently whenever his eyes changed color. However Riku never held it against him, mostly because if he couldn't beat Natsu in a fight with the wooden swords then it meant he had a long way to go before he could beat someone genuinely strong with a real blade.

Besides, outside of a fight Natsu was pretty helpless. He needed his "big brother" to keep him out of trouble that he always found himself in, mostly because he was too kind to turn someone down.

Riku gently ruffled Natsu's hair. He let out a light squawk of surprise, causing Sora to snicker.

Next to Natsu, Sora's hair looked tame in comparison.

"Sleeping away the day again, Natsu?" said Kairi with a giggle.

"School is to boring! The homework is way too easy!" complained Natsu with good humor.

"Hear that Sora? Natsu thinks the homework is easy, so why don't I ever see you doing yours?" Kairi challenged with a grin.

Sora made a face, but kept that bright smile on.

Between him and Natsu, they were the butt of a lot of good natured teasing, especially from Riku or Kairi.

They had no idea that their raft would never be used.

* * *

Natsu woke up, holding his chest as a pervading sense of overwhelming dread and _wrongness_ hit him like one of Cielo's kicked to the chest.

Something bad was happening. Something so terrible it would cause untold damage. Cielo could sense it as well, because he was in an agitated state and looked ready to kick the first available target that came within range.

Looking outside at the sky, that sense of _wrongwrongwrongevil_ only grew stronger until it was impossible to ever ignore.

He had the feeling things were going to change, and that it would be some time before he came back to the islands again. Grabbing the backpack he had gotten during a past Christmas from Santa (he didn't care what Riku-nii said, he had seen something putting the well wrapped box next to his bed along with a treat for Cielo) he started putting away all his most important possessions and all the clean clothes he could wear. Cielo crooned nervously, staring outside with eyes so wide they were practically black.

He was terrified of something, and Natsu really didn't want to find out what could do that.

He packed his things a little faster. He paused when he reached something that had lain in his drawer for so long he generally forgot about it.

It was a ring with a cute lion's head on it.

Natsu didn't hesitate. He put the ring the same finger as the nice teenager who had taken him away originally had it on. It felt right, but it was always awkward to do anything when he was terrified the ring would slip and fall off his hand.

He was finally big enough that it fit snugly, even if it was partly the ring's fault everyone called him Natsu. The second it was in place, he could feel a warm, almost purr from the 'lion' head. Like it was alive. It had been so long since he was called Tsuna that he had almost forgotten his original name.

"Kwee!" cried Cielo in alarm.

Tsuna looked outside and saw black figures on the beach. A sharp spike of alarm and terror hit him, before his eyes shifted to amber and his mind went crystal clear.

He threw open the shutters completely, ignoring the wind of the storm.

Cielo didn't need any input from him. The second the boy was on his back the chocobo charged outside in a fierce desire to fly away. Good thing the backpack was able to double as a saddle bag.

The creatures were black, vaguely humanoid but not tall enough to be adult sized, and had glowing yellow eyes. Just looking at them made his danger sense twinge rampantly.

Natsu was about to reach Riku and Sora when he saw him. The teen who had brought him to the islands.

Concern for his friends and a desire to meet the teen warred. Then he saw Sora summon something like a blade and his way was clear.

He aimed Cielo towards the teenager who saw him coming clearly.

 _ **It has begun. Now, not even that man can stop the events in motion.**_

A feeling of inevitability and chaos raged inside his heart. The teen looked him in the eye, his warm browned turned completely amber and with a brilliant orange fire on his forehead and hands.

He calmly pointed at Natsu with a flame-coated hand, the gauntlets practically shining in the remaining light.

 _ **Survive, little Sky. Survive so that the future is not beholden to darkness. Survive...so that you might awaken the blood that flows through you unchained.**_

Something was happening to him. There was a burning that flowed through his blood, coating Cielo and through his wings.

 _ **Now little Sky... you must test your resolve against the coming darkness so that the worlds may find their light and rise up against it.**_

He was falling. Falling deep into darkness...but at the same time surrounded by light.

He would wake up in a new world much like his old one, but felt darker.

* * *

It took him a few seconds of panic before he saw Cielo out cold next to him, very much alive and still with the bag slung across his back via a strap.

"Kwee..."

Cielo sounded so pitiful that Natsu couldn't help but pull out the bag of treats and give him two. The chocobo munched down, but Natsu could tell his heart wasn't really in it.

"Hwuk. Are you okay?" asked a voice. Natsu looked up and saw someone really strange...but his 'intuition' as Riku-nii called it said that the odd duo were trustworthy.

"I think Cielo didn't like the rough landing so much. Know where I could find a doctor or a vet?" he asked.

The taller of the two shook his head, but the shorter one that looked like a rather cranky duck noticed the look the taller one gave him before sighing in irritation.

"This is really stretching it," he grumbled. He took out a strange staff object and hit Cielo with a glowing energy. The chocobo blinked before letting out a louder cry and attacking the second treat with considerably more enthusiasm.

"Thanks!" said Natsu relieved. "How did you do that, by the way?"

The duck grumbled under his breath, before saying "Magic."

Natsu tilted his head.

"You mean like this?" he asked, before his right hand became coated in orange fire.

It had freaked Riku, Sora and Kairi out pretty good when he first did that, but then they quickly realized that Natsu, for some strange reason, was quite literally fire-proof.

The duck's eyes widened in shock, before his grudging grumpy nature vanished. Now it was more like concern.

"Definitely need to get you to someone who knows how to train mages. I think Master Merlin lives around here...somewhere."

Natsu made sure to hold onto Cielo's collar, mostly because the chocobo had a habit of wandering off if he noticed Natsu distracted.

"Hwuk! What's your name?"

"I'm Natsu, and this is my partner Cielo. Watch out for when he's agitated...he has one mean kick," said Natsu.

Seeing a familiar head of hair passing an alleyway, Natsu almost bolted after it. That looked way too much like Sora to be a coincidence.

Was he thrown here too?

He got an answer to that three hours later. Along with the names of the two oddballs.

The friendly 'canine' (he didn't know what he was, but he had the loyal canine feel so he stuck with that) with the shield was named Goofy and had a really laid back attitude with the feel of 'rain' and 'lightning' for some reason. He didn't like weapons, but his shield could deal some really painful hits and he was always quick to act in defense of his friends.

The grumpy duck with the staff was Donald, and he was just naturally irritable. He seemed to warm up a bit when Natsu admitted he was well aware that there were multiple worlds already (having come from one before being sucked out of the islands), but had been completely unaware that travel between them was even possible. Donald had the odd feel of 'storm', 'sun' and what Natsu could only describe as 'fog'. And once you got past his grouchy exterior he was an alright fellow.

Seeing Sora after the older two crashed into him and started talking excitedly about the weird blade he had (something about the king and a keyblade), Natsu suddenly felt a spike of warning.

"Guys, look out! Something really bad is coming!" he shouted.

Sora didn't hesitate and took battle position before the other two registered the warning.

Natsu found himself on the outside looking in as walls appeared out of nowhere and blocked him and Cielo from getting close. However he was able to shout warnings and allow the fighters below a better chance to avoid injury.

Donald, when it was all said and done, looked at Natsu with genuine respect...and a slightly wary expression.

"Hwuk! How did you know they were going to show up?" asked Goofy.

"Natsu has this weird sixth sense. It's _never_ wrong," said Sora matter of fact. He grinned and hugged the slightly smaller boy. "You have no idea how relieved I am to see you're alright. You too, Cielo."

"Kwee!"

"Gah! Why do you always go for the hair you crazy bird?" complained Sora, fending off the chocobo. The bird continued to 'nuzzle' Sora's hair until it grew bored.

"So what now?" asked Natsu.

"Well Cid said that Merlin wouldn't be back for some time, so you could join us I suppose," said Donald.

"Hwuk! You could teach Natsu the basics!" said Goofy.

"Or I could ask that girl Yuffie for advice on how to fight. She seems like she might have an idea or two how to fight without a weapon. And Aerith seems to be pretty knowledgeable about herbal remedies," offered Natsu.

"That might be a better idea. I don't think our small ship could fit that big bird of yours," said Donald, eyeing Cielo. Not without paying Cid and delaying their departure for who knew how long.

Sora looked disappointed, but at least he knew Natsu would be learning how to fight and protect him later.

* * *

Natsu quickly found himself the errand boy of Cid in between learning from Yuffie how to fight. She seemed openly thrilled he had asked her for training instead of Leon. And Aerith was happy to teach him how to make basic herbal remedies to speed up healing.

For some reason, every time he got into working on his own healing kit the medicine would always end up coated in some sort of yellow fire and work much faster than they should.

It took him a week before he was able to consistently bring out the yellow color, but it was never as strong as his orange one.

"Oi, bird-boy! Got a delivery!" shouted Cid.

Natsu rolled his eyes. Ever since Cid found out Natsu had Cielo trained to the point it could outrun any heartless they ran into, he turned the duo into his personal delivery service.

Though it really sped things up when Cid finally figured out how to outfit Cielo with some really nasty shoes that allowed him to kick any heartless into dust. Cielo took far too much pleasure in doing so once he realized that...and Natsu quickly learned to get over the shock of being on the chocobo's back when it emulated the few birds of prey he had seen on the islands. Cielo developed the most irritating habit of taking to the roofs, finding a bunch of heartless and then attacking from above. With Natsu still firmly on his back.

The first time it happened the boy had yelped, and Cid about died laughing his ass off from the look on his face.

The second time Yuffie literally fell on her ass laughing while Aerith bravely tried to hold back her own amusement, since Natsu was holding their recent shopping purchases.

"Where to this time?" asked Natsu.

"You're going to be happy about this one. Merlin finally came back and he's agreed to see you."

"Finally!" said Natsu with considerably more enthusiasm. He packed a lunch and got Cielo outfitted.

"Kwee!"

Cid handed him the delivery, and they were off.

 _Inside Merlin's home..._

Archimedes looked up from his book with surprise.

"There's a Sky heading this way. Untrained, by the looks of it," he commented.

Merlin blinked. Cid had told him that his new delivery boy was interested in learning magic, particularly healing spells so he could protect his friends.

Skies were exceptionally rare, and that rarity only went up outside the world they originated from. Add in the ridiculous flame purity he could feel from here... this would be an interesting challenge. He hadn't had this much potential for fun since Arthur.

There was a knock on the door, and a surprisingly young voice called out from the other side.

"Master Merlin, I have a delivery from Cid for you."

Merlin grinned. This was going to be interesting. The young were so much more adaptable and could learn quickly if given the right direction.


End file.
